***********************************************************
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (January 8) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$133.2 billion at the end of December 2006 (end-November 2006: US$132.7 billion) (Table 1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of December 2006 also stood at US$133.2 billion (end-November 2006: US$132.7 billion).
Hong Kong is the world's eighth largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Korea, India and Singapore (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$133.2 billion represent over six times the currency in circulation or about 35% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
January 8, 2007
****************************************************************
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 January 2007, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
January 8 SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's
Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets
Figures)
January 15 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank
(Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
January 26 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
January 31 SDDS Template on International Reserves and
Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Monday, January 8, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:40
NNNN