Monetary Statistics for June 2008

According to statistics published today (Thursday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions decreased by 0.5% in June 2008. Hong Kong dollar deposits declined by 2.1% during the month, as the contraction in savings and time deposits exceeded the expansion in demand deposits. Foreign currency deposits rose by 1.3% in June. Accounting for around 3.1% of foreign currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong edged down by 0.1% to RMB77.6 billion at the end of June.

Total loans and advances increased by 2.1% in June. Loans for use in Hong Kong expanded by 1.6% and loans for use outside Hong Kong grew by 4.5%. Because loans continued to rise while deposits declined, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio climbed to 81.9% at the end of June.

In the second quarter of 2008, loans for use in Hong Kong expanded by 4.7%. Analysed by economic uses, lending to wholesale and retail trade recorded the highest growth rate of 15.6% while loans to stockbrokers declined for the third consecutive quarter.

Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong dollar M1 increased by 2.6% in June and rose by 14.0% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M3 decreased by 2.0% during the month and declined by 3.8% from a year earlier.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Lilian Goh, Officer (Press), at 2878 8246

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 July 2008