********************************************************
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (June 30) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,103.1 billion on May 31 2006.
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 May 2006 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,103.1 billion, were HK$8.2 billion lower than at the end of April 2006. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased, by HK$5.2 billion and HK$3.0 billion respectively.
The decrease in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuations of foreign currency investments and redemptions of Certificates of Indebtedness, which were partly offset by interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets. The decrease in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to fiscal draw-downs and valuation of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund, which were partly offset by an increase in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled.
The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of May 2006 was HK$287.5 billion, a decrease of HK$1.2 billion, or 0.4%, from the end of April 2006. The decrease was due mainly to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness.
The Backing Assets decreased by HK$0.6 billion, or 0.2%, to HK$321.5 billion. The decrease was attributable mainly to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base together with valuation of investments, which were partly offset by interest from investments. Reflecting this, the backing ratio increased from 111.55% at the end of April 2006 to 111.81% at the end of May 2006.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
June 30, 2006
********************************************************************
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 June, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
June 7 SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's
(Issued) Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets
Figures)
June 14 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central
(Issued) Bank (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)
June 30 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
June 30 SDDS Template on International Reserves
and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Friday, June 30, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:30
NNNN