HKMA Quarterly Bulletin (December 2004 Issue)

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (Wednesday) published the December 2004 issue of its Quarterly Bulletin.

This issue of the Quarterly Bulletin contains the regular Half-Yearly Monetary and Financial Stability Report, which analyses in detail recent external and domestic influences on Hong Kong's monetary and financial systems. The Report concludes that conditions have remained favourable for monetary and financial stability in Hong Kong.

The Bulletin includes feature articles on

• Intra-regional trade and the role of Mainland China - examining trends in Asian exports and considering the implications of slower economic growth on the Mainland
• Turnover of the foreign exchange and derivatives market in Hong Kong - showing considerable growth since the last survey in 2001
• Residential mortgage default risk and the loan-to-value ratio - examining the impact of negative equity on the probability of default on mortgage loans and the positive correlation between residential mortgage default risk and the loan-to-value ratio.

The Bulletin also carries a Supervisor's Memo on foreign exchange risk management.

The Quarterly Bulletin may be ordered from the HKMA at $100 per copy. A separate version of the Half-Yearly Monetary and Financial Stability Report may be ordered at $60 per copy. The Bulletin and Report may also be bought at the HKMA Information Centre on 55th Floor, Two International Finance Centre. The full text of the Quarterly Bulletin (http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/public/qb_index.htm) and the Report (http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/public/mfsr_index.htm) is available on the HKMA website.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Kevin Ip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
15 December 2004