The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (27
November) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to
HK$985.3 billion as at 31 October 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 October 2000, the total assets of the Exchange
Fund, at HK$985.3 billion, were HK$3.6 billion lower than at the
end of September. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$11
billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$14.6
billion.
The increase in foreign currency assets reflected mainly
purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars.
The decrease in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to the
sale of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies and a decrease in
the market value of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange
Fund.
Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary
base at the end of October was HK$208.1 billion, a decrease of
HK$1.8 billion, or 0.9%, from the end of September 2000. The
decline was mainly due to a decrease in Certificates of
Indebtedness of HK$2.9 billion, which was partly offset by
increases in issuance of Exchange Fund Bills and Notes and the
Aggregate Balance.
The backing assets decreased by HK$1.1 billion, or 0.5% from
HK$233.8 billion to HK$232.7 billion. The decline was mainly driven
by the corresponding decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness in
the monetary base, which was partly offset by income from
investment and revaluation gains of HK$1.3 billion. Reflecting
this, the backing ratio increased from 111.4% at the end of
September to 111.8% at the end of October.
Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account
For further enquiries, please contact:
Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Caitlin Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
27 November 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 November, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are
as follows:
7 November
(Issued) |
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest
Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures) |
14 November
(Issued) |
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank
(Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data) |
| 27 November |
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency
Board Account |
| 30 November |
SDDS Template on International Reserves and
Foreign Currency Liquidity |
