Monetary Statistics for May 2019

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions declined by 1.0% in May 2019. With decreases in savings, demand and time deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits went down by 1.0% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits also decreased by 1.0% in May. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong increased by 2.0% to RMB624.4 billion at the end of May. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB477.3 billion in May, compared with RMB420.7 billion in April 2019.

Total loans and advances stayed virtually unchanged in May. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) edged up by 0.1% from a month ago, while loans for use outside Hong Kong edged down by 0.2%.¹  The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio picked up to 88.3% at the end of May from 87.3% at the end of April, as Hong Kong-dollar loans increased while Hong Kong-dollar deposits declined.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Hong Kong-dollar M1 declined by 2.2% in May and dropped by 5.9% year-on-year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 decreased by 1.0% during the month but rose by 2.8% from a year earlier. 

Annex

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
28 June 2019