The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that the official foreign currency assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$89.5 billion at the end of March 1999, compared with US$89.8 billion at end-February (Table 1). The small decrease in foreign currency assets can mainly be attributed to reversal in the note issuing activities in March after the Chinese New Year holiday in February this year. The issuance of new notes must be backed by US dollars which are deposited by the note issuing banks with the Exchange Fund.
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency assets of Hong Kong at the end of March 1999 also stood at US$89.5 billion (End-February: US$89.8 billion).
Hong Kong remains the world's fourth largest holder of foreign currency reserves after Japan, Mainland China and Taiwan (Table 2). The total foreign currency assets of US$89.5 billion represent over seven times the currency circulation or about 40% of Hong Kong dollar M3, one of the highest ratios in the world.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
7 April 1999
TABLE 1
| Exchange Fund -- Foreign Currency Assets of Hong Kong (US$ billion) |
| |
Excluding Unsettled FX Contracts |
Unsettled FX Contracts |
Including Unsettled FX Contracts |
| March 95 |
52.4 |
(0.2) |
52.2 |
| June 95 |
53.6 |
- |
53.6 |
| September 95 |
51.8 |
2.8 |
54.6 |
| December 95 |
55.4 |
1.8 |
57.2 |
| March 1996 |
58.1 |
1.7 |
59.8 |
| June 96 |
57.3 |
2.7 |
60.0 |
| September 96 |
55.4 |
6.7 |
62.1 |
| December 96 |
63.8 |
5.7 |
69.9 |
| February 1997 |
63.8 |
4.3 |
68.1 |
| March 1997 |
63.4 |
4.3 |
67.7 |
| April 1997 |
63.6 |
4.0 |
67.6 |
| May 1997 |
66.6 |
1.8 |
68.4 |
| June 1997 |
67.6 |
2.1 |
69.7 |
| July 1997 * |
81.7 |
2.6 |
84.3 |
| August 1997 |
85.3 |
0.2 |
85.5 |
| September 1997 |
88.1 |
0.7 |
88.8 |
| October 1997 |
91.4 |
0.3 |
91.7 |
| November 1997 |
96.5 |
0.4 |
96.9 |
| December 1997 |
92.8 |
0.4 |
93.2 |
| January 1998 |
98.1 |
- |
98.1 |
| February 1998 |
96.7 |
- |
96.7 |
| March 1998 |
96.8 |
0.1 |
96.9 |
| April 1998 |
96.2 |
(0.1) |
96.1 |
| May 1998 |
96.4 |
- |
96.4 |
| June 1998 |
96.5 |
- |
96.5 |
| July 1998 |
96.5 |
(0.5) |
96.0 |
| August 1998 |
92.1 |
(4.5) |
87.6 |
| September 1998 |
88.4 |
(0.2) |
88.2 |
| October 1998 |
88.7 |
(0.2) |
88.5 |
| November 1998 # |
88.6 |
- |
88.6 |
| December 1998 |
89.6 |
- |
89.6 |
| January 1999 |
90.1 |
- |
90.1 |
| Febrary 1999 |
89.8 |
- |
89.8 |
| March 1999 |
89.5 |
- |
89.5 |
* For July 97 to October 98 inclusive, the figures reflect the aggregate of Exchange Fund and Land Fund figures. Figures for June 97 and prior months reflect the Exchange Fund's figures only. The Land Fund was established on 1 July 1997. Figures for the Land Fund prior to that date are therefore not available.
# In November 1998, the assets of the Land Fund were merged into the Exchange Fund.
TABLE 2
| Foreign Currency Reserves Ranking |
| |
- |
US$BN |
As at end of |
| (1) |
Japan |
222.5 |
Mar 1999 |
| (2) |
China |
146.0 |
Feb 1999 |
| (3) |
Taiwan |
93.0 |
Mar 1999 |
| (4) |
Hong Kong |
89.5 |
Mar 1999 |
| (5) |
US |
83.6 |
Dec 1998 |
| (6) |
Singapore |
72.4 |
Feb 1999 |
| (7) |
Germamy |
67.6 |
Jan 1999 |
| (8) |
France |
63.6 |
Jan 1999 |
| (9) |
Korea |
57.5 |
Mar 1999 |
| (10) |
Spain |
49.5 |
Mar 1999 |
Source: HKMA, IMF, Reuters, Singapore Department of Statistics
