Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

Press Releases

30 Oct 2009

Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Friday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,958.3 billion on 30 September 2009.

The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released monthly together with the Currency Board Account.

At the end of September 2009 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,958.3 billion, were HK$38.7 billion higher than at the end of August 2009. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$33.6 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$5.1 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuation gains on foreign currency investments, purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars and an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness. The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to valuation gains on Hong Kong equities, increases in bank borrowings and placements by Hong Kong government / statutory bodies. These increases were partly offset by fiscal drawdowns.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of September 2009 was HK$803.6 billion, an increase of HK$11.5 billion, or 1.45%, from the end of August 2009. The rise in the Monetary Base was due mainly to an inflow of funds into the Hong Kong dollar and an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness.

The Backing Assets increased by HK$12.8 billion, or 1.53%, to HK$850.0 billion. The increase was attributable mainly to the rise in the Monetary Base together with revaluation gains and interest from investments. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose from 105.69% at the end of August 2009 to 105.77% at the end of September 2009.

Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account

For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1802

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 October 2009

 

At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of October 2009, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

7 October (Issued) SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
14 October
(Issued)
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
30 October Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
30 October SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
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Last revision date : 30 October 2009