Monetary Statistics for December 2006

According to statistics published today (Wednesday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions decreased by 2.6% in December 2006, mainly reflecting the high base of comparison in November. Hong Kong dollar deposits declined by 6.1% while foreign currency deposits increased by 1.9%. Representing around 1% of the foreign currency deposits, renminbi deposits remained stable at RMB22.7 billion yuan in December.

Total loans and advances decreased by 7.8% in December, with Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency loans declining by 8.9% and 3.8% respectively. Loans for use in Hong Kong contracted by 9.1% while loans for use outside Hong Kong grew by 1.5%. Since the Hong Kong dollar loans decreased at a faster pace than Hong Kong dollar deposits, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio declined further, reaching 74.7% in December.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 decreased by 0.7% in December but increased by 11.6% from a year earlier. Both unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 declined by 5.6% during the month but grew by 19.2% on a year-on-year comparison.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Sara Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 January 2007