The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (14
January 2000) key data on the balance sheet of the Exchange Fund at
end-December 1999, reporting an increase of HK$35.7 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$691.3 billion. The increase was mainly due to
the issue of additional currency notes. The corresponding US dollar
deposits received from note issuing banks to back the additional
currency notes were invested in short-term interest bearing
instruments.
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$234.4
billion.
Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$77.6
billion.
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 January 2000
Annex 1
Analytical
Accounts of the Central Bank
(in millions of Hong Kong
dollars)
|
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
|
| 30 September 1999 |
200,768
|
0
|
55,914
|
662,831
|
489
|
| 31 October 1999 |
199,145
|
0
|
51,748
|
663,782
|
44
|
| 30 November 1999 |
202,546
|
0
|
89,020
|
655,569
|
43
|
| 31 December 1999 |
234,386
|
0
|
77,563
|
691,261
|
38
|
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.
(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, fees payable to the Exchange Fund's external managers
and obligations under repurchase agreements.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
14 January 2000
