Monetary Statistics for July 1999

According to statistics published today (31 August 1999) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, both total deposits and total loans and advances increased during the month of July. Table 1 provides a summary and comparison with earlier months.

Deposits

Total deposits registered steady growth of 2.0% in July. As the growth of foreign currency deposits outpaced that of Hong Kong dollar deposits, the share of Hong Kong dollar deposits in total deposits decreased from 57.0% in June to 56.0% in July.

Hong Kong dollar deposits increased slightly by 0.1% in July. Among different categories, time deposits saw a steady increase of 1.8%, while demand and savings deposits dropped by 4.0% and 3.6% respectively in July.

Foreign currency deposits grew by 4.6% in July. Of the total, US dollar deposits and non-US dollar foreign currency deposits increased by 4.8% and 4.3% respectively. The rise in the former reflected in part higher US dollar deposit interest rates compared with their Hong Kong dollar counterparts after the US interest rate hike at the end of June, while valuation effects accounted for part of the increase of the latter.

Loans and advances

Total loans and advances saw a marginal rise of 0.1% in July, reversing the downtrend which started in November 1998. The rise in total loans was attributable to an increase in loans for use outside Hong Kong (up 1.4%). On the other hand, domestic loans continued to decline in July (by 0.5%), but at a more moderate pace when compared with previous months. The Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio dropped slightly from 95.4% at end-June to 95.0% at end-July.

Money supply

Hong Kong dollar M1 shrank by 1.9% in July, as the decrease in demand deposits (down 4.0%) more than offset the rise in currency held by the public. Meanwhile, both Hong Kong dollar M2 and Hong Kong dollar M3 increased marginally, by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively during the month. In the twelve months to July, Hong Kong dollar M1 grew by 4.7%, while Hong Kong dollar M2 and Hong Kong dollar M3 increased by 5.8% and 5.6% respectively.

Note to editors

For enquiries, please contact the Press Section, Hong Kong Monetary Authority. (Telephone: 2878 8261)

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

31 August 1999