The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (28
August) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to
HK$982.8 billion as at 31 July 2000.
The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance
Sheet, which is released on a monthly basis together with the
Currency Board Account.
At the end of July 2000, the total assets of the Exchange Fund,
at HK$982.8 billion, were HK$26.6 billion higher than at the end of
June. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets
increased by HK$16.4 billion and HK$10.2 billion respectively.
The increase in foreign currency assets was primarily due to an
increase in the amount of repurchase agreements outstanding at the
end of the month. Transactions in repurchase agreements are part of
the routine investment activities of the Exchange Fund. (An
explanation of the accounting effect of repurchase agreements on
the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet is included in the
attached Note.)
The increase in Hong Kong dollar assets reflected an increase in
the market value of Hong Kong equities that was partly offset by a
decrease in placements by other government funds.
Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the Monetary
Base at the end of July was HK$207.6 billion, a decrease of HK$0.7
billion, or 0.4%, from the end of June 2000. The decrease was
primarily due to the decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness of
HK$1.4 billion, which was partly offset by increases of HK$0.6
billion in market value of Exchange Fund Bills and Notes
issued.
The backing assets decreased slightly by HK$0.2 billion, or
0.1%, to HK$230.2 billion. The more moderate decline in backing
assets compared with that of the Monetary Base was largely due to
net income and revaluation gains of HK$1.2 billion. Reflecting
this, the backing ratio increased from 110.6% at the end of June to
110.9% at the end of July.
At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's
data are issued each month. Three of these releases are issued to
disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International
Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The
fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet
and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's
policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month
of August, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are
as follows:
7 August
(Issued) |
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest
Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures) |
14 August
(Issued) |
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank
(Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data) |
| 28 August |
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency
Board Account |
| 31 August |
SDDS Template on International Reserves and
Foreign Currency Liquidity |
Note: Under a repurchase agreement
("repo"), the Exchange Fund sells securities to a counterparty and
repurchases them at a pre-determined subsequent date and price. In
accordance with generally accepted accounting policies, repo
transactions are accounted for as secured borrowings, in which the
cash received is accounted for as cash borrowed, against which a
liability is recorded. The securities sold under repo agreements
still remain as assets on the balance sheet. Therefore both the
assets and liabilities of the balance sheet of the Exchange Fund
are increased as a result of entering into repo transactions.
Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Caitlin Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
28 August 2000
