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$4,168.0 billion as at 30 April 2018, HK$17.9 billion higher than that at the end of March 2018.  Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$34.0 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$51.9 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the sale of US dollars under the Currency Board arrangements, which was partly offset by an increase in unsettled purchases of securities.  The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to an increase in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of April 2018 was HK$1,670.6 billion, decreased by HK$58.8 billion, or 3.4%, from the end of March 2018.  The decline was mainly due to a decrease in the balance of the banking system and the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets decreased by HK$58.4 billion, or 3.1%, to HK$1,816.7 billion.  The decrease was mainly due to the sale of US dollars under the Currency Board arrangements and the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness.  The backing ratio increased from 108.42% at the end of March 2018 to 108.74% at the end of April 2018.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 May 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 May 2018, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: