Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data

Press Releases

14 May 2003

Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (Wednesday) key data on the balance sheet of the Exchange Fund at the end of April 2003, reporting a decrease of HK$7.5 billion in the foreign assets of the Exchange Fund during the month.

Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, amounted to HK$838.2 billion.

The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government-issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the Aggregate Balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$251.8 billion.

Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$54.8 billion.

Foreign liabilities, representing mainly obligations under repurchase agreements, amounted to HK$5.6 billion.

The balance sheet data of the Exchange Fund are released in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and are referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS (Annex).

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
14 May 2003

 

At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of May, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

 

7 May
(Issued)
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
14 May SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)
30 May Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
30 May SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity

 

 

 

Annex

Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank

(in millions of Hong Kong dollars)

Monetary
Base (1)

Claims on the Hong Kong SAR Government (2)

Claims on the Private Sector in Hong Kong (3)

Foreign
Assets (4)

Foreign
Liabilities (5)

30 April 2002

235,278

0

47,359

823,173

26,760

31 May 2002

236,101

0

53,800

818,645

20,695

30 June 2002

238,461

0

38,915

840,757

16,893

31 July 2002

236,943

0

39,165

841,620

19,358

31 August 2002

239,313

0

36,761

842,943

17,421

30 September 2002

240,798

0

49,054

825,159

25,852

31 October 2002

239,328

0

50,030

818,868

14,292

30 November 2002

241,373

0

51,514

818,958

11,246

31 December 2002

246,106

0

41,657

832,881

1,654

31 January 2003

265,261

0

51,391

851,607

9,152

28 February 2003

251,873

0

43,388

845,743

12,455

31 March 2003

250,843

0

45,208

845,724

12,471

30 April 2003

251,773

0

54,840

838,231

5,572

(1) The Monetary Base comprises Certificates of Indebtedness (for backing the currency notes), Government-issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the Aggregate Balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued.

(2) Claims on the Hong Kong SAR Government refer to any lending to the Government.

(3) Claims on the Private Sector in Hong Kong include bank deposits and investments in debt securities issued by public sector entities in Hong Kong held by the Exchange Fund.

(4) Foreign Assets represent the external assets of the Exchange Fund and exclude foreign currency deposits placed with banks in Hong Kong.

(5) Foreign Liabilities include obligations under repurchase agreements, securities lending with cash collateral arrangements and fees payable to the Exchange Fund's external managers.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
14 May 2003

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Last revision date : 14 May 2003