Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures Released

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (7 December) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$104.2 billion at the end of November 2000 (end-October: US$102.7 billion) (Table 1).

Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of November 2000 also stood at US$104.2 billion (end-October: US$102.7 billion).

In terms of foreign currency reserves ranking, Hong Kong is the world's fourth largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Japan, Mainland China, and Taiwan (Table 2).

The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$104.2 billion represent about eight times the currency in circulation or about 41% of Hong Kong dollar M3, one of the highest ratios in the world.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

7 December 2000

At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA 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 December, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

Table 1

Foreign Currency Reserve Assets of Hong Kong

(US$ billion)

                Excluding                   Including
                Unsettled     Unsettled     Unsettled
                FX Contracts  FX Contracts  FX Contracts

Dec 95          55.4          1.8           57.2 
Dec 96          63.8          5.7           69.6 
Dec 97          92.8          0.4           93.2 
Dec 98          89.6            -           89.6

Jan 99          90.1            -           90.1
Feb 99          89.8            -           89.8
Mar 99          89.5            -           89.5
Apr 99          89.5            -           89.5
May 99          88.9            -           88.9
Jun 99          88.6            -           88.6
Jul 99          89.1            -           89.1 
Aug 99          89.2          0.1           89.3
Sep 99          90.4            -           90.4
Oct 99          90.4            -           90.4
Nov 99          92.1          0.5           92.6
Dec 99          96.3            -           96.3

Jan 00          94.3         (0.1)          94.2
Feb 00          93.1            -           93.1
Mar 00          93.8          0.1           93.9
Apr 00          93.9          0.3           94.2
May 00          95.2          0.2           95.4
Jun 00          97.1            -           97.1    
Jul 00          98.9            -           98.9     
Aug 00          100.4        (0.3)          100.1
Sep 00          101.5         0.2           101.7
Oct 00          102.7           -           102.7
Nov 00          104.2           -           104.2

Figures for the end of 1995 and 1996 do not include Land Fund figures.
The Land Fund was established on 1 July 1997 and its foreign currency reserve assets were included thereafter in the above compilation.
The assets of the Land Fund were merged into the Exchange Fund in November 1998.

Table 2

Foreign Currency Reserves Ranking

                       US$ billion     As at end of
(1)  Japan             354.6             Nov 2000
(2)  Mainland China    160.1             Sep 2000
(3)  Taiwan            108.2             Nov 2000
(4)  Hong Kong         104.2             Nov 2000
(5)  Korea             93.3              Nov 2000
(6)  Germany           84.3              Oct 2000
(7)  Singapore         77.8              Oct 2000
(8)  US                64.9              Nov 2000
(9)  France            63.4              Oct 2000
(10) Switzerland       52.2              Oct 2000

Sources: HKMA, Reuters, Website of International Monetary Fund.