Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Tuesday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$3,267.3 billion as at 28 February 2015, HK$48.2 billion higher than that at the end of January 2015.  Foreign currency assets increased by HK$48.5 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$0.3 billion. 

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

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of February 2015 was HK$1,367.3 billion, increased by HK$18.5 billion, or 1.4%, from the end of January 2015.  The rise was mainly due to an increase in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness, which reflected the seasonal demand for banknotes around Lunar New Year. 

The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$17.4 billion, or 1.2%, to HK$1,466.4 billion.  The rise was mainly attributable to an increase in assets connected with the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness, which was partly offset by revaluation losses.  The backing ratio decreased from 107.43% at the end of January 2015 to 107.24% at the end of February 2015.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 March 2015 

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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 March 2015, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: