Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Wednesday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$994.4 billion as at 30 November 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 November 2003, the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$994.4 billion, were HK$17.8 billion higher than at the end of October 2003. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets increased, by HK$11.1 billion and HK$6.7 billion respectively.

The increase in foreign currency assets was mainly due to purchase of foreign currencies from Hong Kong dollars and valuation gains on foreign currency investments. The increase in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to placements received from fiscal reserves and an increase in the balance of the banking system. These increases were partly offset by the sale of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies and a decrease in bank borrowings.

Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary base at the end of November 2003 was HK$268.8 billion, an increase of HK$8.5 billion, or 3.3%, from the end of October 2003. The increase was mainly due to increases in Certificates of Indebtedness and the Aggregate Balance.

The backing assets increased by HK$8.8 billion, or 3.0%, to HK$298.3 billion. The increase was mainly attributable to the corresponding increases in Certificates of Indebtedness and the Aggregate Balance in the monetary base. At the end of November, the backing ratio stood at 110.95%, compared to 111.23% at the end of October.

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
Kevin Ip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687

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