Monetary Statistics for May 2005

According to statistics published today (Thursday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions declined by 1.0% in May 2005, with Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency deposits falling by 1.2% and 0.7% respectively. Within foreign currency deposits, renminbi deposits amounted to RMB19.3 billion yuan in May, compared with RMB16.7 billion yuan in April.

Total loans and advances expanded by 0.6% in May, as a rise of 1.1% in loans for use in Hong Kong outweighed a decline of 3.3% in loans for use outside Hong Kong. Analysed by currency, Hong Kong dollar loans rose while foreign currency loans registered a decline. As Hong Kong dollar loans increased but Hong Kong dollar deposits fell, the loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 87.0% in May.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 fell by 1.8% in May and by 3.4% from a year ago. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both contracted by 1.2% during the month, but grew by 6.4% and 6.2% respectively from a year earlier.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Kevin Ip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-Fung Wong, Resource Co-ordinator, at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 June 2005

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