Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (25 September) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$990 billion as at 31 August 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 August 2000, the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$990 billion, were HK$7.2 billion higher than at the end of July. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$12.7 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$5.5 billion.

The increase in foreign currency assets was mainly attributable to revaluation effects on foreign currency investments and an increase in the amount of repurchase agreements outstanding at the end of the month.

Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary base at the end of August was HK$206.8 billion, a decrease of HK$0.8 billion, or 0.4%, from the end of July 2000. The decline was mainly attributable to a decline in Certificates of Indebtedness of HK$1.2 billion, which was partly offset by increase in issuance of Exchange Fund bills and notes, of HK$0.3 billion.

The backing assets at end of August remained unchanged at HK$230.2 billion. The corresponding decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness in the monetary base was offset by income from investments and revaluation gains of HK$1.4 billion. Reflecting this, the backing ratio increased from 110.9% at the end of July to 111.3% at the end of August.

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

25 September 2000

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 September, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: