Monetary Statistics for December 2016

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions edged down by 0.3% in December. As the increase in time deposits offset the decline in demand and savings deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits stayed virtually unchanged during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits declined by 0.7% in December. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong decreased by 12.9% to RMB546.7 billion at the end of December. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB287.6 billion in December, compared with RMB390.6 billion in November.

Total loans and advances grew by 1.6% in December. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) increased by 0.4% from a month ago, while loans for use outside Hong Kong rose by 4.5%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans grew at a faster pace than Hong Kong-dollar deposits, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio increased to 77.1% at the end of December from 76.2% at the end of November.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) picked up by 2.5% after rising by 1.5% in the previous quarter. Analysed by economic use, the quarterly increase in loans was mainly led by residential mortgage loans, loans to building, construction, property development and investment, and loans to financial concerns.

Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 grew by 1.3% in December and expanded by 14.2% year on year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 edged up by 0.2% during the month and rose by 8.9% from a year earlier. 


Annex

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
27 January 2017