HKMA Quarterly Bulletin (March 2003 Issue)

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (Tuesday) published the latest issue of its Quarterly Bulletin. This issue contains feature articles on:

• External Demand for Hong Kong Dollar Currency - examining the circulation of the Hong Kong dollar outside of Hong Kong, particularly on the Mainland of China.
• Alternative Measures of the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) - presenting alternative measures of REER, a good indicator of an economy's competitiveness.
• Hong Kong Dollar Debt Market Development in 2002 - reviewing new issuance of Hong Kong dollar debt in 2002 and initiatives to develop the debt market infrastructure.
• Securities-Related Activities of Authorized Institutions: Key Issues for Staff - setting out key matters for relevant individuals engaged in securities-related activities under the new supervisory framework.
• Development of Financial Infrastructure in Hong Kong - outlining the HKMA's endeavours in developing Hong Kong's clearing, payment and settlement systems since 1990.

The Bulletin also carries a Supervisor's Memo on Interest Rate Risk Management, addressing common questions regarding the revised supervisory and reporting framework for interest rate risk. The Bulletin also contains regular articles on the banking and monetary environment during the fourth quarter of 2002.

A number of changes are introduced in this issue of the HKMA Quarterly Bulletin. These include

• completely bilingual presentation, with English and Chinese in distinct sections;
• new statistical appendices covering monetary, banking, capital markets and economic statistics;
• expanded contents including a brief editorial, a theme cover illustration for each issue and more reference resources; and
• a redesigned format giving clearer presentation.

The Quarterly Bulletin is on sale at the Government Publications Centre. It may also be ordered direct from the HKMA at $100 per copy. The full text of the Quarterly Bulletin is available on the HKMA website at

http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/public/qb_index.htm

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press) at 2878 8246
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press) at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
11 March 2003