Monetary Statistics for November 2006

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 7.2% in November 2006. Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency deposits increased by 12.3% and 1.4% respectively. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong dollar demand deposits registered a substantial increase of 72.7%, reflecting temporary placements relating to stock market fund-raising activities at the end of the month. Representing around 1% of the foreign currency deposits, renminbi deposits remained stable at RMB22.8 billion yuan in November.

Total loans and advances registered a 9.2% increase in November, with Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency loans expanding by 11.6% and 1.1% respectively. Loans for use in Hong Kong and outside Hong Kong grew by 10.5% and 1.1% respectively. As the increase in Hong Kong dollar loans was smaller than that in Hong Kong dollar deposits, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio continued to decline, reaching 76.9% in November.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 grew by 3.8% in November and by 18.4% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 increased by 11.3% and 11.2% respectively during the month. They rose by 27.1% and 27.0% respectively on a year-on-year comparison.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Sara Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 December 2006