Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

 The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Thursday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$3,577.5 billion as at 31 May 2016, HK$31.5 billion higher than that at the end of April 2016.  Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$5.1 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$36.6 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness.  The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to an increase in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled, which was partly offset by withdrawals of placements by Fiscal Reserves and HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of May 2016 was HK$1,602.2 billion, decreased by HK$5.6 billion, or 0.3%, from the end of April 2016.  The decline was mainly due to a decrease in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets decreased by HK$3.3 billion, or 0.2%, to HK$1,713.7 billion.  The decrease was mainly attributable to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness, which was partly offset by valuation gains and interest from investments.  The backing ratio increased from 106.79% at the end of April 2016 to 106.96% at the end of May 2016.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 June 2016

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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 June 2016, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: