Hong Kong increases disclosure of foreign currency reserves and liquidity

As part of its continuing effort to increase transparency, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will, on a monthly basis, disseminate data on Hong Kong's international reserves and foreign currency liquidity. The first set of such data, as at 30 April 2000, was released today in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard, to which Hong Kong has subscribed.

International financial crises in recent years have underscored the importance of disseminating additional information on countries' international reserves and foreign currency liquidity. To meet this need, the IMF has developed a "Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity" ("Template") as an innovative data framework to help strengthen the international financial architecture. The Template facilitates participants' provision of information to the public on the amount and composition of reserve assets, other foreign exchange assets held by the central bank and the government, short-term foreign liabilities, and related activities that can lead to demand on reserves (such as financial derivatives positions).

The attached Template (Annex) disseminates data on items applicable to Hong Kong as at 30 April 2000, including "Official reserve assets" (item IA) comprising Hong Kong's foreign currency reserve assets announced earlier this month on 8 May.

Explanations of the data disseminated in the Template can be found in the footnotes in the Annex.

The 2000 release calendar for the Template is as follows:

Month              Release Date
April 2000         31 May 2000
May 2000           30 June 2000
June 2000          31 July 2000
July 2000          31 August 2000
August 2000        29 September 2000
September 2000     31 October 2000
October 2000       30 November 2000
November 2000      29 December 2000
December 2000      31 January 2001

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