The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (March 14) the key analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund at the end of February 2017.
 
     Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, decreased during the month by HK$7.6 billion to HK$3,153.0 billion.
 
     The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government‑issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$1,649.3 billion.
 
     Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$339.0 billion.
 
     Foreign liabilities, representing mainly obligations under repurchase agreements, amounted to HK$2.0 billion.
 
     The analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund are released in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and are referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS (Annex).

*********************************************************

     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 March 2017, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
 

March 7 (Issued)	SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
March 14	SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
March 31	SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
March 31	Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

Ends/Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:30

NNNN