Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (30 November) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$985.9 billion as at 31 October 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 October 2001, the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$985.9 billion, were HK$6.4 billion lower than at the end of September 2001. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased, by HK$6.3　billion and HK$0.1 billion respectively.

The decrease in foreign currency assets was mainly due to sale of foreign currencies for Hong Kong dollars and decreases in Certificates of Indebtedness and the amounts of repurchase agreements outstanding, which were partly offset by income from foreign currency assets and valuation gains on foreign currency investments.

The decrease in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to reductions in placements by other government funds and bank borrowings, which were mostly met by Hong Kong dollars purchased from foreign currencies.

Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary base at the end of October 2001 was HK$225.7 billion, a decrease of HK$2.7 billion, or 1.2%, from the end of September 2001. The decrease was mainly due to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness of HK$3.1 billion during the month.

The backing assets decreased by HK$1.7 billion, or 0.7%, from HK$254.4　billion to HK$252.7 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 investments together with revaluation gains of HK$1.5 billion. At the end of October, the backing ratio stood at 111.97%, compared to 111.36% at the end of September.

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

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

30 November 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 November 2001, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: