Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Monday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$2,648.2 billion as at 30 November 2012.

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 November 2012 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$2,648.2 billion, were HK$35.9 billion higher than at the end of October 2012.  Foreign currency assets increased by HK$20.7 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$15.2 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars.  The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to placements received from HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies and valuation gains on Hong Kong equities.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of November 2012 was HK$1,135.9 billion, an increase of HK$22.9 billion, or 2.1%, from the end of October 2012.  The rise was due mainly to increases in the Aggregate Balance and Certificates of Indebtedness.

The Backing Assets increased by HK$24.5 billion, or 2.0%, to HK$1,235.0 billion.  The increase was attributable mainly to an increase in the Aggregate Balance, the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness, revaluation gains and interest from investments.  At the end of November 2012, the backing ratio stood at 108.72%, compared with 108.76% at the end of October 2012.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 December 2012

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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 December 2012, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: