Monetary Statistics for February 2019

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions edged up by 0.1% in February 2019. Hong Kong-dollar deposits grew by 0.2% during the month, as the increase in demand and savings deposits exceeded the decline in time deposits. Overall foreign-currency deposits stayed virtually unchanged in February. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong grew by 1.5% to RMB608.3 billion at the end of February. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB338.6 billion in February, compared with RMB408.1 billion in January 2019.

Total loans and advances grew by 0.2% in February. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) remained virtually unchanged from a month ago, while loans for use outside Hong Kong picked up by 0.7%.¹ The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio picked up to 87.3% at the end of February from 86.8% at the end of January, as Hong Kong-dollar loans grew at a faster pace than Hong Kong-dollar deposits.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Hong Kong-dollar M1 rose by 1.5% in February but declined by 3.8% year-on-year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 edged up by 0.1% during the month and grew by 1.4% from a year earlier.

Annex

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 March 2019