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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (December 7) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$132.7 billion at the end of November 2006 (end-October 2006: US$131.2 billion) (Table 1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of November 2006 also stood at US$132.7 billion (end-October 2006: US$131.2 billion).
Hong Kong is the world's seventh largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Korea and India (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$132.7 billion represent about seven times the currency in circulation or 39% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
December 7 2006
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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 December 2006, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
December 7 SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest
Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
December 14 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank
(Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
December 22 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
December 29 SDDS Template on International Reserves and
Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Thursday, December 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:45
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