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$2,265.8 billion on 30 September 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 September 2010 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$2,265.8 billion, were HK$10.1 billion lower than at the end of August 2010. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$3.9 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$14.0 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to valuation gains on foreign currency investments and an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness, which were substantially offset by a decrease in unsettled purchases of securities. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to a decrease in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled, which was partly offset by valuation gains on Hong Kong equities.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of September 2010 was HK$1,032.0 billion, an increase of HK$6.9 billion, or 0.7%, from the end of August 2010. The rise was mainly due to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness.

The Backing Assets increased by HK$5.2 billion, or 0.5%, to HK$1,116.7 billion. The increase was mainly attributable to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness and interest from investments which were partly offset by exchange loss triggered by a stronger Hong Kong dollar. The backing ratio decreased from 108.43% at the end of August 2010 to 108.20% at the end of September 2010.

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

For media enquiries, please contact:
Rhonda Lam, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Natalie Wu, Officer (Communications), at 2878 8246

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 October 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 October 2010, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: