Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (29 April) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$4,508.4 billion as at 31 March 2022, HK$90.5 billion lower than that at the end of February 2022. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$66.3 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$24.2 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the withdrawals of Fiscal Reserves placements, a decrease in the month-end balances of unsettled purchase of securities and the mark-to-market revaluation on investments. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to a reduction in bank borrowings and the mark-to-market revaluation on Hong Kong equities.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of March 2022 was HK$2,147.2 billion, decreased by HK$1.7 billion, or 0.1%, from the end of February 2022. The decline was mainly due to a decrease in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets decreased by HK$8.8 billion, or 0.4%, to HK$2,355.7 billion. The decrease was mainly attributable to the mark-to-market revaluation on investments. The backing ratio decreased from 110.03% at the end of February 2022 to 109.71% at the end of March 2022.

Annex 1: Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2: Currency Board Account

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
29 April 2022

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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 April 2022, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: