The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (8
January) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong
Kong amounted to US$107.5 billion at the end of December 2000
(end-November: US$104.2 billion) (Table
1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency
reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of December 2000 also stood
at US$107.5 billion (end-November: US$104.2 billion).
According to an HKMA spokesperson, the US$3.3 billion increase
in settled foreign currency assets in the month of December was
mainly due to evaluation gains on foreign currency investments and
increase in currency notes outstanding.
In terms of foreign currency reserves ranking, Hong Kong is now
the world's third largest holder of foreign currency reserves,
after Japan and Mainland China (Table
2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$107.5 billion
represent about eight times the currency in circulation or about
42% 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
Caitlin Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
8 January 2001
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 January 2001, the scheduled dates for issuing the
press releases are as follows:
| 8 January |
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign
Currency Reserve Assets Figures) |
| 15 January |
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Exchange Fund
Balance Sheet Data) |
| 22 January |
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board
Account |
| 31 January |
SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency
Liquidity |
Table 1
Foreign Currency Reserve Assets of Hong Kong
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
Dec 00 107.5 - 107.5
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 163.9 Nov 2000
(3) Hong Kong 107.5 Dec 2000
(4) Taiwan 106.7 Dec 2000
(5) Korea 96.2 Dec 2000
(6) Germany 86.6 Nov 2000
(7) Singapore 78.1 Nov 2000
(8) US 66.6 Dec 2000
(9) France 64.5 Nov 2000
(10) Switzerland 52.3 Nov 2000
Sources: HKMA, Reuters, Website of International Monetary
Fund.
