Monetary Statistics for August 2008

According to statistics published today (Tuesday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions decreased by 0.8% in August 2008. Hong Kong-dollar deposits declined by 0.2% during the month, as the contraction in demand and savings deposits exceeded the increase in time deposits. Foreign-currency deposits also dropped by 1.3% in August. Accounting for around 2.9% of foreign-currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong contracted further during the month, by 7.7% to RMB71.1 billion at the end of August.

Total loans and advances rose by 0.6% in August. Loans for use in Hong Kong expanded by 0.7% and loans for use outside Hong Kong grew by 0.2%. Because loans continued to climb while deposits declined, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio increased to 83.8% at the end of August.

Seasonally-adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 increased by 0.5% in August and rose by 10.5% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 declined by 0.1% during the month but expanded by 0.2% 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
30 September 2008