The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (14 September) key data on the balance sheet of the Exchange Fund at end-August 1999, reporting a small increase of HK$ 0.2 billion in the foreign assets of the Exchange Fund during the month.
Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, amounted to HK$655.1 billion.
The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness and coins issued, the Aggregate Balance of the banking system, and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$196.6 billion.
Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$54.6 billion at end-August. The increase of HK$6.2 billion from the previous month was mainly due to increases in both foreign currency and Hong Kong dollar deposits placed with banks in Hong Kong.
The balance sheet data of the Exchange Fund are released on a monthly basis in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and are referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS (Annex 1).
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
14 September 1999
Monetary Base (1) | Claims on the Hong Kong SAR Government (2) | Claims on the Private Sector in Hong Kong (3) | Foreign Assets (4) | Foreign Liabilities (5) | |
31 Jan 1999 |
196,520 |
0 |
80,078 |
655,955 |
310 |
28 Feb 1999 |
203,042 |
0 |
71,566 |
661,465 |
46 |
31 March 1999 |
199,433 |
0 |
68,142 r |
655,862 |
25 |
30 April 1999 |
198,256 |
0 |
60,145 |
656,843 |
20 |
31 May 1999 |
197,281 |
0 |
57,826 |
652,107 |
8 |
30 June 1999 |
196,479 |
0 |
62,106 |
645,393 |
35 |
31 July 1999 |
196,041 |
0 |
48,389 |
654,866 |
47 |
31 August 1999 |
196,568 |
0 |
54,623 |
655,054 |
40 |
r - revised figure
(1) The Monetary Base comprises 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) Claims on the Hong Kong SAR Government refer to any lending to the Government. This item is not applicable to Hong Kong.
(3) Claims on the Private Sector in Hong Kong include bank deposits and investments in debt securities issued by public sector entities in Hong Kong held by the Exchange Fund.
(4) Foreign Assets represent the external assets of the Exchange Fund and exclude foreign currency deposits placed with banks in Hong Kong.
(5) Foreign Liabilities include margin payable on securities transactions and fees payable to the Exchange Fund's external managers.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
14 September 1999