Monetary Statistics for February 2009

According to statistics published today (Tuesday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions declined by 1.0% in February 2009. Hong Kong-dollar deposits decreased by 0.9% during the month, as the contraction in time deposits exceeded the rise in liquid deposits. Foreign-currency deposits also shrank by 1.2% in February. Accounting for around 2.1% of foreign-currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong contracted by 0.8% to RMB54.0 billion at the end of February.

Total loans and advances decreased by 1.4% in February. Loans for use in Hong Kong declined by 1.4% and loans for use outside Hong Kong shrank by 1.5%. The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio was 78.2% at the end of February, little changed from the previous month, because Hong Kong-dollar loans and deposits contracted at about the same rate.

Seasonally-adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 rose by 0.3% in February and increased by 11.5% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 declined by 1.2% during the month and decreased by 1.1% year on year.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 March 2009