Monetary Statistics for February 2008

According to statistics published today (Monday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 0.7% in February 2008. Hong Kong dollar deposits expanded by 0.4% during the month, with the increase in savings deposits exceeding the decreases in demand and time deposits. Foreign currency deposits grew by 1.1%. In particular, renminbi deposits increased markedly by 18.3% to RMB47.8 billion yuan at the end of February, accounting for around 1.9% of foreign currency deposits.

Total loans and advances rose by 1.4% in February. Loans for use in Hong Kong expanded by 1.4% and loans for use outside Hong Kong grew by 1.5%. With a faster loan growth relative to deposits, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio increased slightly to 74.1% at the end of February.

Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong dollar M1 declined by 2.7% in February but rose by 15.1% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M3 increased by 0.2% during the month and 8.4% from a year earlier.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Peggy Lo, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 March 2008