Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

Press Releases

26 Sep 2003

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$963.0 billion as at 31 August 2003.

The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released on a monthly basis together with the Currency Board Account.

At the end of August 2003, the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$963.0 billion, were HK$1.6 billion higher than at the end of July 2003. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$0.3 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$1.9 billion.

The decrease in foreign currency assets was mainly due to sale of foreign currencies for Hong Kong dollars which was partly offset by an increase in repurchase agreements and income from foreign currency assets. The increase in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to the purchase of Hong Kong dollars from foreign currencies, an increase in bank borrowings and valuation gains in the market value of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund. These increases were partly offset by fiscal drawdowns.

Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary base at the end of August 2003 was HK$255.0 billion, an increase of HK$1.9 billion, or 0.7%, from the end of July 2003. The increase was mainly due to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness of HK$1.9 billion.

The backing assets increased by HK$2.0 billion, or 0.7%, to HK$285.4 billion. The increase was mainly attributable to the corresponding increase in Certificates of Indebtedness in the monetary base. At the end of August, the backing ratio stood at 111.91%, compared to 111.94% at the end of July.

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

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
26 September 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 September 2003, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

8 September
(Issued)
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
15 September
(Issued)
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)
26 September Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
30 September SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
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Last revision date : 26 September 2003