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$2,391.4 billion as at 30 November 2010.

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

As at the end of November 2010 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$2,391.4 billion, were HK$111.8 billion higher than as at the end of October 2010. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$60.7 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$51.1 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to an increase in unsettled purchases of securities and purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars, which were partly offset by valuation losses on foreign currency investments. The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to an increase in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled and placements received from fiscal reserves, which were partly offset by sales of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base as at the end of November 2010 was HK$1,030.8 billion, a decrease of HK$1.0 billion, or 0.10%, from the end of October 2010. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness.

The Backing Assets decreased by HK$0.5 billion, or 0.04%, to HK$1,114.4 billion. The decrease was mainly attributable to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness and revaluation losses which were partly offset by interest from investments. The backing ratio increased from 108.05% as at the end of October 2010 to 108.11% as at the end of November 2010.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 December 2010

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 December 2010, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: