HKMA Quarterly Bulletin (June 2006 Issue)

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (Wednesday) published the June 2006 issue of its Quarterly Bulletin.

This issue of the Quarterly Bulletin contains the regular Half-Yearly Monetary and Financial Stability Report, which analyses recent external and domestic influences on Hong Kong's monetary and financial systems. The Report notes that Hong Kong has entered its third year of broad-based growth amid rising interest rates and tame inflation.

This Quarterly Bulletin contains four feature articles:

• The Hong Kong banking sector's preparedness for a possible influenza pandemic - describing initiatives the HKMA is taking to ensure preparedness of the Hong Kong banking sector.
• The oversight of payment and securities settlement systems in Hong Kong - setting out the oversight activities conducted by the HKMA under the Clearing and Settlement Systems Ordinance and the informal oversight framework for retail payment systems in Hong Kong.
• Results of the 2005 survey on credit derivative and securitisation activities - showing that authorized institutions were active in credit derivative and securitisation markets in 2005.
• The macroeconomic impact on Hong Kong of hypothetical Mainland shocks - concluding that Hong Kong is able to withstand shocks of considerable magnitudes.

The Bulletin also includes a speech entitled "A financial development strategy for Hong Kong" given by Joseph Yam, Chief Executive of the HKMA, at the Pan-Pearl River Delta Financial Services Forum on 23 March 2006. The speech proposes a strategy for enabling Hong Kong to assist the intermediation of funds on the Mainland and support its status as an international financial centre.

The Quarterly Bulletin may be ordered from the HKMA at $100 per copy. A separate version of the Half-Yearly Monetary and Financial Stability Report (English only) may be ordered at $60 per copy. The Bulletin and the Report may also be bought at the HKMA Information Centre on 55th Floor, Two International Finance Centre. The full text of the Bulletin (http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/public/qb_index.htm) and the Report (http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/public/mfsr_index.htm) is available on the HKMA website.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Hing-Fung Wong, Resource Co-ordinator, at 2878 1802 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
14 June 2006