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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (April 30) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,223.5 billion on March 31, 2007.
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 March 2007 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,223.5 billion, were HK$16.1 billion lower than at the end of February 2007. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$8.4 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$7.7 billion.
The decline in foreign currency assets was due mainly to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness, which was partly offset by interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to fiscal drawdowns.
The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of March 2007 was HK$299.1 billion, a decrease of HK$9.7 billion, or 3.2%, from the end of February 2007. The decline was due mainly to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness.
The Backing Assets decreased by HK$9.6 billion, or 2.8%, to HK$331.8 billion. The decline was attributable mainly to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base and revaluation losses, which were partly offset by interest from investments. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose from 110.53% at the end of February 2007 to 110.93% at the end of March 2007.
Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account
For further enquiries, please contact:
Sara Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), 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 April 2007, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
April 11 SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's
Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets
Figures)
(Issued)
April 16 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central
Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange
Fund)
(Issued)
April 30 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
April 30 SDDS Template on International Reserves
and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Monday, April 30, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:30
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