Compliance with IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standards

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will publish data on foreign currency assets and on the balance sheet of the Exchange Fund on a monthly basis, in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS), commencing with the reference month of January 1999. The disclosure initiative aims to provide the public with more relevant, frequent and timely indicators of monetary conditions in Hong Kong. This is part of the HKMA's on-going effort to enhance transparency and public access to financial data.

With this disclosure initiative, data on foreign currency assets of the Exchange Fund (classified as International Reserves under SDDS) will be released within one week of the end of the reference month. This is a significant improvement over the current time lag of about one-month. Data on the balance sheet of the Exchange Fund (referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS) will be released within two weeks of the end of the reference month. The balance sheet data to be published are those on:

1. the Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness (for backing the currency notes) and coins issued, the aggregate balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued;
2. the Exchange Fund's claims on the public sector and private sector in Hong Kong; and
3. the Exchange Fund's foreign currency assets and foreign currency liabilities.

In addition to their release to the press in Hong Kong, the information disseminated under SDDS will also be published on the website of HKMA (http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/).

The 1999 release calendar for data on foreign currency assets and on the balance sheet ofthe Exchange Fund is as follows:

Foreign Currency Assets

Data in Balance Sheet:

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
1 February 1999