According to statistics published today (Friday, 31 January) by
the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, both deposits and loans and
advances decreased slightly during December 1996. Table 1
summarises figures for December 1996 and comparisons with earlier
months.
Deposits
. Total deposits fell by 1.1% in December 1996, reversing the
rise of 3.6% in November. This resulted from decreases in both HK$
deposits and foreign currency deposits of 1% and 1.1%
respectively.
The decrease in HK$ deposits was led by the decline in time
deposits, which outweighed rises in both demand and savings
deposits. Having surged by 6.6% in November due to placements of
new share subscription money, time deposits fell by 3.5% in
December. On the other hand, savings deposits grew further by 2.5%
in December, following a rise of 4.1% in November, while demand
deposits reversed the 2.2% drop in November and registered an
increase of 8.6% in December. The growth pattern of deposits in
recent months had been affected by the active asset market
activities.
The 1.1% fall in foreign currency deposits was due to a decrease
of 2.7% in US$ deposits, which more than offset an increase of 0.5%
in non-US$ foreign currency deposits. The latter edged up in
December after falling for four months in a row.
Loans and Advances
Total loans and advances fell slightly by 0.2% in December,
following a rise of 2.5% in November. Domestic credit decreased by
0.5% in December, as a 1.2% increase in loans for trade financing
was outweighed by a 0.7% fall in other loans for use in Hong Kong.
The fall in the latter was, however, largely the result of the high
base of comparison at end-November, which was boosted by loans for
share subscription. Offshore loans rose slightly by 0.1% in
December.
Analyzed by currency, HK$ loans fell by 1% while foreign
currency loans grew by 0.3% during the month. As the decline in HK$
loans was more moderate than that of HK$ deposits, the HK$
loan-to-deposit ratio edged up to 103.3% at end-December, from
103.2% at end-November.
Quarterly Analysis of Loans for Use in Hong Kong by
Major Economic Sector
Loans for use in Hong Kong grew faster by 4.5% in the December
quarter, compared with the 2.0% increase in the September quarter.
Loans for trade financing rebounded by 1.4% in the December quarter
and registered a 6.7% growth for 1996 as a whole. Loans for
building, construction and property development and investment and
for residential mortgages grew further strongly, by 7.5% and 5.8%
respectively, along with the buoyant property market. Loans to
financial concerns and stock-brokers also recorded notable growths
of 6.7% and 25.5% respectively. Nevertheless, loans to the
manufacturing sector were virtually unchanged, having slowed to an
increase of 2.1% in the September quarter. Loans for wholesale and
retail trade also fell by 1.5%, after rising by a cumulative 7.9%
in the preceding three quarters.
Money Supply
HK$M1 surged by 6.1% in December, led by an increase of 8.6% in
HK$ demand deposits and a rise of 2.3% in currency held by the
public. On the other hand, HK$M2 and HK$M3 both decreased by 0.7%
in December, having risen by 14.9% and 14.8% in the preceding six
months respectively. During 1996, HK$M1 rose by 15.8%, HK$M2
increased by 19.3% while HK$M3 grew by 19%.
* Adjusted to exclude foreign currency swap deposits.
@ Adjusted to include foreign currency swap deposits.
# Including those where place of usage is unknown.
Note : Data may not add up to total due to rounding.
