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

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (July 31) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$979.9 billion as at June 30 2003.

The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released on a monthly basis together with the Currency Board Account.

At the end of June 2003, the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$979.9 billion, were HK$9.6 billion lower than at the end of May 2003. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$15.6 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$6.0 billion.

The decrease in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the sale of foreign currencies for Hong Kong dollars. The increase in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to the purchase of Hong Kong dollars from foreign currencies which was partly offset by fiscal drawdowns.

Figures in the Currency Board Account show that the monetary base at the end of June 2003 was HK$254.0 billion, an increase of HK$1.3 billion, or 0.5%, from the end of May 2003. The increase was mainly due to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness of HK$1.2 billion.

The backing assets increased by HK$1.4 billion, or 0.5%, from HK$283.1 billion to HK$284.5 billion. The increase was due to the corresponding increase in Certificates of Indebtedness in the monetary base and income from investments. At the end of June, the backing ratio stood at 112.01%, against 112.04% at the end of May.

Attachment

Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund(which is on the HKMA website http://www.hkma.gov.hk)

Annex 2 : Currency Board Account(which is on the HKMA website http://www.hkma.gov.hk)

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

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 July 2003, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

July 7      SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest


(Issued)    Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)




July 14     SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank 


(Issued)    (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)




July 31     Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and


             Currency Board Account




July 31    SDDS Template on International Reserves


             and Foreign Currency Liquidity

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or

Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

End/Thursday, July 31, 2003

NNNN