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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Friday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,462.0 billion on February 29, 2008.
The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released monthly together with the Currency Board Account.
At the end of February 2008 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,462.0 billion, were HK$10.9 billion higher than at the end of January 2008. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$5.8 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$5.1 billion.
The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuation gains on foreign currency investments, interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets and purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars. These increases were partly offset by redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness.
The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to valuation gains on Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund and placements received from fiscal reserves, which were partly offset by the sale of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies.
The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of February 2008 was HK$331.3 billion, a decrease of HK$7.1 billion, or 2.1%, from the end of January 2008. The decline was due mainly to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness.
The Backing Assets decreased by HK$5.8 billion, or 1.6%, to HK$364.1 billion. The decrease was attributable mainly to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base, which was partly offset by revaluation gains and interest from investments. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose from 109.30% at the end of January 2008 to 109.88% at the end of February 2008.
Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1802
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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 March 2008, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
March 700SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong﷿s
(Issued) Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
March 140 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank 000
(Issued)0 (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
March 28 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
March 31 SDDS Template on International Reserves
and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Friday, March 28, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:30
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