Press Releases

Monetary Statistics for February 2000

According to statistics published today (31 March 2000) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits increased, while total loans and advances decreased during the month of February. Table 1 provides a summary and comparison with earlier months.

Deposits

Total deposits increased moderately by 0.4% in February, following a decline of 0.7% in the preceding month. As Hong Kong dollar deposits decreased while foreign currency deposits rose, the share of Hong Kong dollar deposits in total deposits dropped slightly from 55.2% in January to 54.7% in February.

Notwithstanding a reduction in cash holding by the non-bank public after the Chinese New Year holidays, Hong Kong dollar deposits decreased moderately by 0.5% in February. Among different categories of deposits, demand deposits increased notably by 9.5%, while savings deposits declined by 4.1% and time deposits remained unchanged compared with the previous month.

Foreign currency deposits registered a rise of 1.6% in February, following a decline of 0.3% in the preceding month. Of the total, both US dollar deposits and non-US dollar deposits increased, by 1.4% and 1.8% respectively. The rise in the latter was partly due to valuation effects.

Loans and advances

Total loans and advances contracted by 1.2% in February. Of the total, domestic loans increased moderately by 0.3%, the second month-on-month increase since mid-1998. The rise reflected in part short-term borrowing amid buoyant share flotation activity in February. On the other hand, loans for use outside Hong Kong registered a decline of 4.8%. Analysed by currency, Hong Kong dollar-denominated loans increased for the second consecutive month, by 0.7% in February, while foreign currency loans shrank by 3.9%. As Hong Kong dollar deposits declined while Hong Kong dollar loans increased, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio edged up slightly from 92.3% in January to 93.4% in February.

Money supply

Hong Kong dollar M1 increased by 1.1% in February, as the rise in demand deposits more than offset the decline in currency held by the public. Meanwhile, both Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 declined moderately by 0.7% during the month. Compared with a year ago, Hong Kong dollar M1 rose by 22.8% in February, while both Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 were up by 4.5%.

Note to editors

For enquiries, please contact the Press Section, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (Telephone: 2878 8261).

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

31 March 2000