Monetary Statistics for January 2008

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions decreased by 1.6% in January 2008. Hong Kong dollar deposits declined by 1.8% during the month, driven by the contraction in demand and time deposits. While US dollar deposits shrank by 3.4%, non-US dollar foreign currency deposits expanded by 3.9%. Renminbi deposits increased markedly by 21.0% to RMB40.4 billion yuan at the end of January, accounting for around 1.6% of foreign currency deposits.

Total loans and advances rose by 3.3% in January, with both Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency loans increasing. Loans for use in Hong Kong expanded by 3.1% and loans for use outside Hong Kong grew by 4.5%. The Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio rebounded to 74.0% at the end of January 2008, compared with 71.0% at the end of December 2007.

Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong dollar M1 increased by 7.7% in January and 19.9% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M3 declined by 1.4% during the month but rose by 13.8% year on year.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 February 2008