Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Friday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$3,955.0 billion as at 31 October 2018, HK$77.6 billion lower than that at the end of September 2018. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$44.5 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$33.1 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to mark-to-market reduction in value of foreign currency portfolios. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to the fall in market value of Hong Kong equities and a reduction in overnight liquidity provided under the Discount Window.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of October 2018 was HK$1,615.1 billion, decreased by HK$4.6 billion, or 0.3%, from the end of September 2018. The decline was mainly due to the decrease in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets decreased by HK$0.8 billion, or 0.05%, to HK$1,768.7 billion. The decrease was mainly attributable to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness, which was partly offset by revaluation gains and interest from investments. The backing ratio increased from 109.25% at the end of September 2018 to 109.51% at the end of October 2018.

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

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