According to statistics published today (Wednesday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits in authorized institutions were virtually unchanged in June, as decreases in Hong Kong dollar deposits and US dollar deposits were offset by an increase in non-US dollar foreign currency deposits.
Hong Kong dollar deposits declined marginally by 0.1% in June, following three consecutive months of increase. Demand and savings deposits fell, while time deposits rose slightly during the month. Foreign currency deposits registered a small rise, as a decline of 0.9% in US dollar deposits was outweighed by a rise of 2.2% in non-US dollar foreign currency deposits. The rise in the latter was in part attributable to valuation effects.
Total loans and advances were little changed in June. Of the total, loans for use outside Hong Kong increased moderately by 1.1%, while loans for use in Hong Kong decreased by 0.1%. Analysed by currency, Hong Kong dollar denominated loans declined, while foreign currency loans increased. As Hong Kong dollar loans fell more than Hong Kong dollar deposits, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio fell slightly to 89.1%.
Credit analysed by economic use was mixed in the June quarter. Loans for wholesale and retail trade declined marginally by 0.1% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, in part reflecting weak consumer demand. Loans for residential mortgages rose slightly, while loans for building, construction, property development and investment shrank by 1.9%. Loans for trade financing rose significantly by 7.3%, reflecting a pick-up in external trade.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 decreased by 0.5% in June but rose by 16.4% from a year ago. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both increased by 0.1% during the month and by 0.8% and 0.9% respectively from a year ago.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 July 2002
Tables
Note:
Following a review of the money supply definition in Hong Kong, a slight revision is made by including short-term Exchange Fund placements of less than one month in the monetary aggregates. This is against the background that the previous practice of excluding short-term placements has introduced minor statistical distortions to the monetary aggregates. Data based on the revised definition for the period from January 2001 to June 2002 are attached at Annex 1. The August issue of the Monthly Statistical Bulletin will also release the figures based on the revised definition and the web-version on the HKMA homepage provides data backdated to April 1997. For further information about the review on the definition of money supply, please see the May 2002 issue of the Quarterly Bulletin of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
