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$2,433.2 billion as at 30 June 2011.

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 June 2011 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$2,433.2 billion, were HK$56.9 billion lower than at the end of May 2011. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$8.9 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$48.0 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to a decrease in unsettled purchases of securities, which was partly offset by purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to a decrease in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled, sales of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies and valuation losses on Hong Kong equities.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of June 2011 was HK$1,054.5 billion, an increase of HK$4.7 billion, or 0.44%, from the end of May 2011. The rise was mainly due to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness.

The Backing Assets increased by HK$4.2 billion, or 0.37%, to HK$1,140.3 billion. The increase was mainly attributable to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness and interest from investments which were partly offset by revaluation losses. The backing ratio decreased from 108.22% at the end of May 2011 to 108.14% at the end of June 2011.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 July 2011

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 July 2011, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: