Hong Kong Monetary Authority - Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures Released

Press Releases

07 Apr 2003

Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures Released

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Monday) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$113.6 billion at the end of March 2003 (end-February 2003: US$113.7 billion) (Table 1).

Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of March 2003 also stood at US$113.6　billion (end-February 2003: US$113.7 billion).

In terms of foreign currency reserves ranking, Hong Kong is the world's fifth largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan and Korea (Table 2).

The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$113.6 billion represent nearly seven times the currency in circulation or about 44% of Hong Kong dollar M3, one of the highest ratios in the world.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
7 April 2003

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 April 2003, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

7 April	SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
14 April	SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)
25 April	Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
30 April	SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity

Table 1

Foreign Currency Reserve Assets of Hong Kong

(US$ billion)

	Excluding Unsettled FX Contracts	Unsettled FX Contracts	Including Unsettled FX Contracts
Dec 95	55.4	1.8	57.2
Dec 96	63.8	5.7	69.6
Dec 97	92.8	0.4	93.2
Dec 98	89.6	-	89.6
Dec 99	96.3	-	96.3
Dec 00	107.5	-	107.5

Jan 01	111.5	-	111.5
Feb 01	114.3	-	114.3
Mar 01	114.6	-	114.6
Apr 01	115.1	-	115.1
May 01	114.7	-	114.7
Jun 01	114.1	-	114.1
Jul 01	114.6	-	114.6
Aug 01	113.7	-	113.7
Sep 01	113.4	-	113.4
Oct 01	113.1	-	113.1
Nov 01	112.3	-	112.3
Dec 01	111.2	-	111.2

Jan 02	111.3	-	111.3
Feb 02	111.3	-	111.3
Mar 02	110.2	-	110.2
Apr 02	110.9	-	110.9
May 02	111.3	-	111.3
Jun 02	112.4	-	112.4
Jul 02	112.5	-	112.5
Aug 02	112.3	(0.2)	112.1
Sep 02	111.2	-	111.2
Oct 02	110.6	-	110.6
Nov 02	111.0	-	111.0
Dec 02	111.9	-	111.9

Jan 03	115.6	-	115.6
Feb 03	113.7	-	113.7
Mar 03	113.6	-	113.6

Figures for the end of 1995 and 1996 do not include Land Fund figures. The Land Fund was established on 1 July 1997 and its foreign currency reserve assets were included thereafter in the above compilation. The assets of the Land Fund were merged into the Exchange Fund in November 1998.

Table 2

Official Reserves Ranking

		US$ billion	As at end of
(1)	Japan	496.2	Mar 2003
(2)	Mainland China	286.4	Dec 2002
(3)	Taiwan	168.6	Mar 2003
(4)	Korea	123.8	Mar 2003
(5)	Hong Kong	113.6	Mar 2003
(6)	Germany	90.2	Feb 2003
(7)	Singapore	83.6	Feb 2003
(8)	US	78.5	Mar 2003
(9)	India	74.8	Mar 2003
(10)	France	62.7	Feb 2003

Sources : HKMA, Reuters, websites of International Monetary Fund, People's Bank of China

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