The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (January 31) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$4,259.1 billion as at December 31, 2019, HK$116.2 billion higher than that at the end of November 2019.  Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$107.8 billion and foreign currency assets increased by HK$8.4 billion.
 
     The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to an increase in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled and additional placements from Fiscal Reserves.  The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to income from foreign currency investments, which was partly offset by a decrease in unsettled purchases of securities.
 
     The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of December 2019 was HK$1,662.4 billion, increased by HK$8.5 billion, or 0.5 per cent, from the end of November 2019.  The rise was mainly due to an increase in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.
 
     The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$1.4 billion, or 0.1 per cent, to HK$1,848.7 billion.  The increase was mainly attributable to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness and interest from investments, which were partly offset by the negative effect in translating foreign currency investments into Hong Kong dollar.  The backing ratio decreased from 111.70 per cent at the end of November 2019 to 111.21 per cent at the end of December 2019.
 
     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.
 
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     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 2020, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
 

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

 

Ends/Friday, January 31, 2020
Issued at HKT 18:41

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