Monetary Statistics for March 2010

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 0.8% in March 2010. Hong Kong-dollar deposits expanded by 1.8% during the month, with demand, savings and time deposits rising. In contrast, foreign-currency deposits declined slightly by 0.2% in March. Accounting for 2.7% of foreign-currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong climbed by 7.1% to RMB70.8 billion at the end of March.

Total loans and advances rose by 2.0% in March. Loans for use in Hong Kong grew by 1.8% and loans for use outside Hong Kong expanded by 2.7%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans increased at a slower rate than deposits, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio decreased to 73.3% at the end of March from 73.8% at the end of February.

In the first quarter of 2010, loans for use in Hong Kong grew by 5.0% as domestic economic activity continued to improve. Analysed by economic use, most types of loans expanded and trade financing loans registered a strong growth of 12.8%.

Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 expanded by 1.9% in March and increased by 34.8% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 climbed by 1.5% during the month and rose by 9.7% year on year.

Annex

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