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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (May 26) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,111.3 billion on April 30 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 April 2006 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,111.3 billion, were HK$21.2 billion higher than at the end of March 2006. Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets increased, by HK$10.7 billion and HK$10.5 billion respectively.
The increase in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuation gains and investment income. The increase in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to placements received from fiscal reserves and valuation of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund, which were partly offset by a decrease in bank borrowings.
The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of April 2006 was HK$288.7 billion, an increase of HK$2.3 billion, or 0.8%, from the end of March 2006. The increase was due mainly to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness.
The Backing Assets increased by HK$2.3 billion, or 0.7%, to HK$322.1 billion. The increase was attributable mainly to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base together with interest from investments, which were partly offset by valuation losses. At the end of April 2006, the backing ratio stood at 111.55%, compared with 111.65% at the end of March 2006.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-Fung Wong, Resource Co-ordinator, at 2878 1802
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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 May 2006, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
May 9 SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest
(Issued) Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
May 15 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank
(Issued) (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)
May 26 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
May 30 SDDS Template on International Reserves and
Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Friday, May 26, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:44
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