Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Wednesday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$3,580.4 billion as at 31 July 2016, HK$37.6 billion higher than that at the end of June 2016.  Foreign currency assets increased by HK$31.6 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$6.0 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the mark-to-market gains on foreign currency portfolios and an increase in unsettled purchases of securities.  The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to the increase in market value of Hong Kong equities and additional placements from HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies, which were partly offset by withdrawals of placements by Fiscal Reserves.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of July 2016 was HK$1,608.3 billion, increased by HK$1.0 billion, or 0.1%, from the end of June 2016.  The rise was mainly due to an increase in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$1.7 billion, or 0.1%, to HK$1,722.3 billion.  The increase was mainly attributable to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness and interest from investments.  The backing ratio increased from 107.05% at the end of June 2016 to 107.09% at the end of July 2016.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 August 2016

*****************************************************************

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 August 2016, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: