Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Monday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$4,150.1 billion as at 31 March 2018, HK$40.1 billion lower than that at the end of February 2018.  Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$21.8 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$18.3 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the decrease in unsettled purchases of securities, which was partly offset by the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness and mark-to-market gains on foreign currency portfolios.  The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to withdrawals of placements by Fiscal Reserves.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of March 2018 was HK$1,729.5 billion, increased by HK$12.0 billion, or 0.7%, from the end of February 2018.  The rise was mainly due to the increase in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$20.6 billion, or 1.1%, to HK$1,875.1 billion.  The increase was mainly attributable to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness, revaluation gains and income from investments.  The backing ratio increased from 107.98% at the end of February 2018 to 108.42% at the end of March 2018.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 April 2018

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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 April 2018, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: