Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

Press Releases

27 Feb 2004

Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Friday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,074.3 billion at 31 January 2004.

The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released on a monthly basis together with the Currency Board Account.

At the end of January 2004 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,074.3 billion, were HK$63.1 billion higher than at the end of December 2003. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets increased, by HK$47.9 billion and HK$15.2 billion respectively.

The increase in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the purchase of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars and an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness. The increase in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to an increase in the balance of the banking system and placements received from fiscal reserves. These increases were partly offset by the sale of Hong Kong dollars in exchange for foreign currencies and a decrease in bank borrowings.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of January 2004 was HK$330.1 billion, an increase of HK$37.4 billion, or 12.8%, from the end of December 2003. The increase was mainly due to increases in the Aggregate Balance and in Certificates of Indebtedness, the latter reflecting the seasonal demand for banknotes around the Lunar New Year.

The Backing Assets increased by HK$38.0 billion, or 11.8%, to HK$360.1 billion. The rise was mainly driven by the corresponding increases in the Aggregate Balance and in Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base, together with net income and revaluation gains of HK$0.9 billion. At the end of January 2004, the backing ratio stood at 109.11%, compared with 110.05% at the end of December 2003.

Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account

For further enquiries, please contact:

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
27 February 2004

 

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 February 2004, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

9 February
(Issued)
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
16 February
(Issued)
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)
27 February Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
27 February SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
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Last revision date : 27 February 2004