Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (22 February) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,075.4 billion as at 31 January 2001.

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 January 2001, the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,075.4 billion, were HK$54.6 billion higher than at the end of December 2000. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets increased, by HK$30.9 billion and HK$23.7 billion respectively.

The increase in foreign currency assets was mainly due to increases in the amounts of repurchase agreements and currency notes outstanding at the end of the month.

The increase in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to increases in the market value of Hong Kong dollar equities held by the Exchange Fund and placements by other government funds. These increases were, however, partly offset by a decrease in bank borrowings.

Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary base at the end of January 2001 was HK$227.9 billion, an increase of HK$12.5 billion, or 5.8%, from the end of December 2000. The increase was mainly due to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness, mainly reflecting the seasonal demand for cash around the Lunar New Year.

The backing assets increased by HK$13.4 billion, or 5.5%, from HK$241.6 billion to HK$255 billion. The rise was mainly driven by the corresponding increase in Certificates of Indebtedness in the monetary base, together with net income and revaluation gains. At the end of January, the backing ratio stood at 111.92%, compared with 112.17% at the end of December.

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

22 February 2001

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