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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (January 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions decreased by 3.8% in December, with the contraction in Hong Kong dollar deposits exceeding the expansion in foreign currency deposits. Hong Kong dollar demand deposits declined by 51.4%, reflecting a high base of comparison due to initial public offering activity at the end of November. Renminbi deposits grew by 10.5% to RMB33.4 billion yuan at the end of December.
Total loans and advances contracted by 7.3% during the month. Loans for use in Hong Kong decreased by 8.9% while loans for use outside Hong Kong expanded by 1.1%. With a larger percentage decrease in loans relative to deposits, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio declined to 71.0% at the end of December.
In the fourth quarter of 2007, loans for use in Hong Kong decreased by 4.4%, mainly driven by the 86.4% decline in loans to stockbrokers. Analysed by economic uses, most types of loans expanded and lending to financial concerns registered a strong increase of 9.6%.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 rose by 1.2% in December and by 10.4% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 decreased by 8.7% and 8.6% respectively during the month. On a year-on-year comparison, Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both grew by 18.1%.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802
Ends/Thursday, January 31, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:31
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