The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Thursday) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$122.4 billion at the end of March 2005 (end-February 2005: US$123.9 billion) (Table 1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of March 2005 also stood at US$122.4 billion (end-February 2005: US$123.9 billion).
In terms of foreign currency reserves ranking, Hong Kong is the world's seventh largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, India and Russia (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$122.4 billion represent over six times the currency in circulation or about 42% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
H. F. Wong, Resource Coordinator (Press), at 2878 1802
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
7 April 2005
At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of April 2005, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
7 April | SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures) |
14 April | SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data) |
29 April | Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account |
29 April | SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity |
Foreign
Currency Reserve Assets of Hong Kong
(US$ billion)
Excluding Unsettled FX Contracts |
Unsettled FX Contracts |
Including Unsettled FX Contracts |
|
Dec 95 | 55.4 | 1.8 | 57.2 |
Dec 96 | 63.8 | 5.7 | 69.6 |
Dec 97 | 92.8 | 0.4 | 93.2 |
Dec 98 | 89.6 | - | 89.6 |
Dec 99 | 96.3 | - | 96.3 |
Dec 00 | 107.5 | - | 107.5 |
Dec 01 | 111.2 | - | 111.2 |
Dec 02 | 111.9 | - | 111.9 |
Dec 03 | 118.4 | 0.5 | 118.9 |
Jan 04 | 123.6 | - | 123.6 |
Feb 04 | 123.5 | - | 123.5 |
Mar 04 | 123.8 | - | 123.8 |
Apr 04 | 122.1 | - | 122.1 |
May 04 | 120.1 | - | 120.1 |
Jun 04 | 120.8 | - | 120.8 |
Ju1 04 | 118.3 | - | 118.3 |
Aug 04 | 118.5 | - | 118.5 |
Sep 04 | 118.4 | - | 118.4 |
Oct 04 | 119.5 | 0.5 | 120.0 |
Nov 04 | 121.5 | - | 121.5 |
Dec 04 | 123.6 | - | 123.6 |
Jan 05 | 124.7 | (0.5) | 124.2 |
Feb 05 | 123.9 | - | 123.9 |
Mar 05* | 122.4 | - | 122.4 |
Figures for the end of 1995 and 1996 do not include Land Fund figures. The Land Fund was established on 1 July 1997 and its foreign currency reserve assets were included thereafter in the above compilation. The assets of the Land Fund were merged into the Exchange Fund in November 1998.
* The latest monthly figures are preliminary and subject to change.
Official Reserves Ranking
US$ billion | At end of | ||
(1) | Japan | 837.7 | Mar 2005 |
(2) | Mainland China | 609.9 | Dec 2004 |
(3) | Taiwan | 251.1 | Mar 2005 |
(4) | Korea | 205.4 | Mar 2005 |
(5) | India | 140.9 | Mar 2005 |
(6) | Russia | 137.4 | Mar 2005 |
(7) | Hong Kong | 122.4 | Mar 2005 |
(8) | Singapore | 113.9 | Feb 2005 |
(9) | Germany | 96.5 | Feb 2005 |
(10) | US | 79.0 | Mar 2005 |
Sources : HKMA, Reuters, websites of International Monetary Fund, People's Bank of China