Monetary Statistics for September 2002

According to statistics published today (Thursday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits in authorized institutions were virtually unchanged in September, as a decline in Hong Kong dollar deposits nearly offset a rise in foreign currency deposits. The drop in Hong Kong dollar deposits (0.1%) was attributable to decreases in savings and time deposits, which exceeded an increase in demand deposits. Foreign currency deposits recorded a small rise of 0.1%, owing to an increase in US dollar deposits that outweighed a fall in other foreign currency deposits.

Loans and advances contracted moderately in September. Of the total, loans for use outside Hong Kong dropped notably by 4.7%, while loans for use in Hong Kong decreased by 0.2%. Analysed by currency, Hong Kong dollar denominated loans grew, while foreign currency loans fell during the month. As Hong Kong dollar loans increased while Hong Kong dollar deposits decreased, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio rose slightly to 89.3%.

Analysed by economic use, lending declined in almost all sectors with the exception of trade financing in the September quarter. The latter has risen for two consecutive quarters, due to strong growth of external trade. Among other sectors, loans for mortgages dropped slightly, while those for building, construction, property development and investment shrank by 2.3%. Loans for wholesale and retail trade decreased by 0.9%, in part reflecting weak consumer demand.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 increased by 1.6% during the month, and by 14.6% from a year ago. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 was virtually unchanged and M3 rose by 0.1%. They were 0.9% and 0.8% respectively lower than the levels in the same period of 2001.

Release Schedule of Monetary Statistics in Hong Kong

The monthly release schedule of monetary statistics in Year 2003 is as follows.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 October 2002

Table 1 (MS Excel, 111KB)