The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Monday)
that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$942.7
billion as at 31 October 2002.
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 2002, the total assets of the Exchange
Fund, at HK$942.7 billion, were HK$13.6 billion lower than at the
end of September 2002. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong
dollars assets decreased, by HK$6.6 billion and HK$7.0 billion
respectively.
The decrease in foreign currency assets was mainly due to a
decrease in the amount of repurchase agreements outstanding. The
decrease in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to fiscal
drawdowns.
Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary
base at the end of October 2002 was HK$239.3 billion, a decrease of
HK$1.5 billion, or 0.6%, from the end of September 2002. The
decrease was mainly due to a decrease in Certificates of
Indebtedness of HK$1.8 billion during the month.
The backing assets decreased by HK$1.1 billion, or 0.4%, from
HK$269.9 billion to HK$268.8 billion. The decline was mainly driven
by the corresponding decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness in
the monetary base. At the end of October, the backing ratio
increased stood at 112.30%, against 112.11% 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 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
2 December 2002
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 2002, the scheduled dates for issuing the
press releases are as follows:
7 November
(Issued) |
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign
Currency Reserve Assets Figures) |
14 November
(Issued) |
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Exchange Fund
Balance Sheet Data) |
29 November
(Issued) |
SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency
Liquidity |
| 2 December |
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board
Account |
