Monetary Statistics for March 2006

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions decreased by 1.5% in March 2006, as a 4.1% fall in Hong Kong dollar deposits outweighed a rise of 1.5% in foreign currency deposits. Within foreign currency deposits, renminbi deposits fell by 0.6% to RMB22.5 billion yuan in March.

Total loans and advances declined by 4.8% in March, as a 5.9% fall in loans for use in Hong Kong more than offset a rise of 5.7% in loans for use outside Hong Kong. Hong Kong dollar loans decreased, while foreign currency loans increased. As Hong Kong dollar deposits decreased proportionally less than Hong Kong dollar loans, the loan-to-deposit ratio fell further to 79.7% in March.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 increased by 4.0% in March but declined by 7.9% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 contracted by 3.8% and 3.7% respectively during the month, but grew by 11.4% and 11.5% respectively from a year earlier.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-Fung Wong, Resource Co-ordinator, at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
28 April 2006

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