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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (December 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions contracted by 2.8% in November 2010. Hong Kong-dollar deposits declined by 7.1% in November, partly reflecting a high base of comparison due to initial public offering activity in the previous month. In contrast, foreign-currency deposits expanded by 2.5% in November. Driven by an increase in trade-related renminbi receipts by corporate customers, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong rose markedly by 28.8% to RMB279.6 billion at the end of November. The total remittance of the renminbi for cross-border trade settlement climbed to RMB93.7 billion in November from RMB68.6 billion in October.
Total loans and advances declined by 1.3% in November. Loans for use in Hong Kong contracted by 1.8% but loans for use outside Hong Kong rose by 0.4%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans decreased at a slower rate than deposits, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio rebounded from 73.6% at the end of October to 76.8% at the end of November.
Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 contracted by 4.7% in November but expanded by 8.4% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 declined by 6.6% during the month but increased by 7.1% from a year earlier.
Ends/Friday, December 31, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:37
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