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$2,885.1 billion as at 31 May 2013, HK$85.4 billion lower than that at the end of April 2013.  Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$33.6 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$51.8 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to valuation losses on foreign currency investments and a decrease in unsettled purchases of securities.  The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to a decrease in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled and fiscal drawdowns.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of May 2013 was HK$1,232.4 billion, decreased by HK$2.6 billion, or 0.2%, from the end of April 2013.  The decline was mainly due to a decrease in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets decreased by HK$6.5 billion, or 0.5%, to HK$1,331.2 billion.  The decrease was mainly attributable to the reduction in assets consequent to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness and revaluation losses.  The backing ratio decreased from 108.31% at the end of April 2013 to 108.02% at the end of May 2013.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
28 June 2013

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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 June 2013, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: