Monetary Statistics for July 2006

According to statistics published today (Thursday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 0.7% in July 2006. Of the total, Hong Kong dollar deposits and foreign currency deposits rose by 0.04% and 1.6% respectively. Within foreign currency deposits, renminbi deposits decreased by 0.1% to RMB22.7 billion yuan in July.

Total loans and advances expanded by 0.2% in July, as an increase of 2.3% in loans for use outside Hong Kong outweighed a decrease of 0.1% in loans for use in Hong Kong. Hong Kong dollar loans dropped by 0.2%, but foreign currency loans rose by 1.5%. As Hong Kong dollar loans declined but Hong Kong dollar deposits were little changed, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio decreased to 80.8% in July.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 grew by 0.8% in July but decreased by 1.8% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 rose by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively during the month. On a year-on-year comparison, Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 increased by 12.5% and 12.6% respectively.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Sara Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 August 2006