Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Thursday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$3,454.7 billion as at 30 November 2015, HK$16.2 billion lower than that at the end of October 2015.  Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$28.4 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$12.2 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to a decrease in unsettled purchases of securities and mark-to-market losses on foreign currency portfolios, which were partly offset by the purchase of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars.  The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to additional placements by Fiscal Reserves, which was partly offset by the sale of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies and a decrease in bank borrowings.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of November 2015 was HK$1,582.0 billion, increased by HK$0.6 billion, or 0.04%, from the end of October 2015.  The rise was mainly due to an inflow of funds into Hong Kong dollar, which was partly offset by a decrease in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$0.1 billion, or 0.01%, to HK$1,683.4 billion.  The increase was mainly attributable to the purchase of US dollars under the currency board system.  This increase was partly offset by the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness and valuation losses.  The backing ratio decreased from 106.45% at the end of October 2015 to 106.41% at the end of November 2015.

Attachment

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 December 2015

*****************************************************************
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 2015, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: