Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

Press Releases

30 Apr 2010

Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Friday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$2,219.2 billion on 31 March 2010.

The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released monthly together with the Currency Board Account.

At the end of March 2010 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$2,219.2 billion, were HK$17.6 billion higher than at the end of February 2010. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$25.1 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$7.5 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to an increase in unsettled purchases of securities and valuation gains on foreign currency investments, which were partly offset by a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to fiscal drawdowns, which was partly offset by valuation gains on Hong Kong equities and placements received from HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of March 2010 was HK$1,023.7 billion, a decrease of HK$4.6 billion, or 0.4%, from the end of February 2010. The decline in the Monetary Base was mainly due to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness.

The Backing Assets decreased by HK$5.2 billion, or 0.5%, to HK$1,097.2 billion. The decrease was attributable mainly to the decline in the Monetary Base together with revaluation losses. These changes were partly offset by interest from investments. The backing ratio decreased from 107.21% at the end of February 2010 to 107.18% at the end of March 2010.

Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account

For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687 or
Yokee Wong, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1213

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 April 2010

 

At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of April 2010, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

9 April (Issued) SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
14 April
(Issued)
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
30 April Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
30 April SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
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Last revision date : 30 April 2010