Monetary Statistics for January 2019

According to statistics published today (Thursday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions grew by 0.7% in January 2019. With increases in savings, demand and time deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits expanded by 1.1% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits increased by 0.4% in January. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong declined by 2.6% to RMB599.1 billion at the end of January. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB408.1 billion in January, compared with RMB384.9 billion in December 2018.

Total loans and advances went up by 1.0% in January. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) grew by 0.9% from a month ago, and loans for use outside Hong Kong expanded by 1.1%.¹ The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio edged down to 86.8% at the end of January from 86.9% at the end of December 2018, as Hong Kong-dollar loans grew at a slower pace than Hong Kong-dollar deposits.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Hong Kong-dollar M1 rose by 2.0% month-on-month in January but declined by 5.4% year-on-year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 increased by 1.2% during the month and expanded by 1.5% from a year earlier.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Hong Kong-dollar M1 decreased by 0.5% in December and declined by 2.6% year-on-year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 increased by 0.4% during the month and grew by 3.7% from a year earlier.

Annex

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
28 February 2019