Monetary Statistics for April 2000

According to statistics published today (31 May 2000) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits of all authorised institutions increased, while total loans and advances decreased during the month of April. Table 1 provides a summary and comparison with earlier months.

Deposits

Total deposits increased moderately for the third consecutive month, by 0.5% in April. As foreign currency deposits rose while Hong Kong dollar deposits declined, the share of Hong Kong dollar deposits in total deposits dropped slightly from 54.6% in March to 54.0% in April.

Hong Kong dollar deposits registered a moderate decline of 0.6% in April, following a rise of 0.5% in March. Among different categories of deposits, demand and savings deposits decreased notably by 6.5% and 3.5% respectively, while time deposits rose by 1.0%.

Foreign currency deposits increased for the third consecutive month, by 1.8% in April. Of the total, US dollar deposits rose by 3.5%, while non-US dollar deposits declined moderately by 0.6%. The decline in the latter was partly due to valuation effects.

Loans and advances

Total loans and advances contracted by 2.1% in April. Of the total, domestic loans declined moderately by 0.3%, after rising for two consecutive months. Loans for use outside Hong Kong registered a larger decline of 6.4%. Analysed by currency, Hong Kong dollar-denominated loans and foreign currency loans shrank by 0.1% and 5.1% respectively. As Hong Kong dollar deposits recorded a larger decline than Hong Kong dollar loans, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio rose slightly from 93.2% in March to 93.7% in April.

Money supply

Hong Kong dollar M1 declined by 3.5% in April, reflecting decreases in currency held by the public and demand deposits. Meanwhile, both Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 declined moderately by 0.6% during the month. Compared with a year ago, Hong Kong dollar M1 rose by 6.8% in April, while Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 were both up by 1.5%.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press) at 2878 8246 or
Alice Lo, Manager (Press) at 2878 1843

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

31 May 2000