Monetary Statistics for April 2015

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 0.9% in April 2015. As the expansion in savings deposits exceeded the decrease in demand and time deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits rose by 1.5% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits grew by 0.4%. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong increased by 0.3% to RMB955.2 billion at the end of April. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB484.2 billion in April, compared with RMB616.2 billion in March.

Total loans and advances went down by 3.0% in April. Excluding the initial public offering (IPO) loans straddling the end of March, total loans and advances would have decreased by 0.3% in April. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) declined by 4.8% from a month ago, while loans for use outside Hong Kong grew by 1.3%. As Hong Kong-dollar deposits increased while Hong Kong-dollar loans decreased, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio declined to 78.1% at the end of April from 83.1% at the end of March.

Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 rose by 9.4% in April and expanded by 15.8% year on year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 increased by 1.3% during the month and grew by 14.2% from a year earlier. 

Annex

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 May 2015