**********************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (May 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions increased by 0.3% in April. As the increase in savings and time deposits exceeded the decrease in demand deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits grew by 0.5% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits edged up by 0.2% in April. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong declined by 4.8% to RMB723.0 billion at the end of April. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB358.1 billion in April, compared with RMB370.7 billion in March.
Total loans and advances picked up by 0.3% in April. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) increased by 0.6% while loans for use outside Hong Kong decreased by 0.5% from a month ago. As Hong Kong-dollar loans declined while Hong Kong-dollar deposits increased, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio went down to 77.6% at the end of April from 78.2% at the end of March.
Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 picked up by 0.4% in April and expanded by 8.1% year on year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 increased by 0.5% during the month and rose by 2.7% from a year earlier.
Ends/Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:35
NNNN
