Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

Press Releases

30 Aug 2013

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$2,884.5 billion as at 31 July 2013, HK$37.3 billion higher than that at the end of June 2013.  Foreign currency assets increased by HK$42.3 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$5.0 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to valuation gains on foreign currency investments, purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars and an increase in unsettled purchases of securities.  The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to fiscal drawdowns and sales of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies.  These decreases were partly offset by additional placements received from HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies and valuations gains on Hong Kong equities.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of July 2013 was HK$1,232.5 billion, decreased by HK$5.1 billion, or 0.41%, from the end of June 2013.  The decline was due to a decrease in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets decreased by HK$5.3 billion, or 0.40%, to HK$1,327.1 billion.  The decrease was attributable to the reduction in assets connected with the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness and revaluation losses.  At the end of July 2013, the backing ratio stood at 107.67%, compared with 107.66% at the end of June 2013.

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

 

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 August 2013

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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 August 2013, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

7 August
(Issued)

SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong’s Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)

14 August
(Issued)

SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)

30 August

Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

30 August

SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity

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Last revision date : 30 August 2013