Monetary Statistics for March 2018

Press Releases

30 Apr 2018

Monetary Statistics for March 2018

According to statistics published today (Monday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions decreased by 0.4% in March 2018. As the decline in savings deposits exceeded the increase in demand and time deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits decreased by 0.5% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits edged down by 0.3% in March. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong increased by 0.7% to RMB554.3 billion at the end of March. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB335.6 billion in March, compared with RMB301.6 billion in February.

Total loans and advances rose by 1.1% in March. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) expanded by 1.2% from a month ago and loans for use outside Hong Kong grew by 0.7%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans increased while Hong Kong-dollar deposits declined, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio went up to 83.2% at the end of March from 81.4% at the end of February.

In the first quarter of 2018, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) expanded by 3.6% following growth of 2.8% in the previous quarter. Analysed by economic use, the quarterly increase in loans was mainly driven by loans to financial concerns and loans to building, construction, property development and investment.

Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 decreased by 0.6% in March but expanded by 12.4% year on year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 edged down by 0.5% during the month but rose by 9.6% from a year earlier.

Annex

 
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 April 2018

Latest Press Releases
Last revision date : 30 April 2018