Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
***************************************************************
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (January 27) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$3,629.9 billion as at December 31, 2016, HK$40.1 billion higher than that at the end of November 2016. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$27.6 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$12.5 billion.
The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness and mark-to-market gains on foreign currency portfolios. The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to additional placements from Fiscal Reserves, which was partly offset by withdrawals of placements by HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies and the fall in market value of Hong Kong equities.
The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of December 2016 was HK$1,641.9 billion, increased by HK$21.0 billion, or 1.3%, from the end of November 2016. The rise was mainly due to an increase in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.
The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$21.1 billion, or 1.2%, to HK$1,751.8 billion. The increase was mainly attributable to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness. The backing ratio decreased from 106.78% at the end of November 2016 to 106.70% at the end of December 2016.
The figures in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and the Currency Board Account are unaudited. The audit of the Exchange Fund's annual financial statements by the Director of Audit is in progress.
*****************************************************************
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 2017, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
| January 6 (Issued) |
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong’s Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures) |
| January 13 (Issued) |
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund) |
| January 27 | SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity |
| January 27 | Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account |
Ends/Friday, January 27, 2017
Issued at HKT 14:50
Issued at HKT 14:50
NNNN