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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (May 14) the key analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund at the end of April 2012, reporting a decrease of HK$5.5 billion in the foreign assets of the Exchange Fund during the month.
Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, amounted to HK$2,239.6 billion.
The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the Aggregate Balance and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$1,087.2 billion.
Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$135.1 billion.
Foreign liabilities, representing fees payable to the Exchange Fund's external managers, amounted to HK$0.3 billion.
The analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund are released in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and are referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS (Annex).
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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 May 2012, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
May 7 (Issued)
SDDS International Reserves
(Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
May 14
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank
(Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
May 31
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
May 31
SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Monday, May 14, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:32
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