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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (October 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions increased by 2.9% in September 2008. Hong Kong-dollar deposits rose by 3.1% during the month, driven by the expansion in time deposits. Foreign-currency deposits also grew by 2.7% in September. Accounting for around 2.7% of foreign-currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong declined for the fourth consecutive month, by 1.7% to RMB70.0 billion at the end of September.
Total loans and advances edged up by 0.1% in September. Loans for use in Hong Kong expanded by 0.2% while loans for use outside Hong Kong contracted by 0.4%. The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio decreased to 81.4% at the end of September, as deposits grew at a faster rate than loans.
In the third quarter of 2008, loans for use in Hong Kong expanded by 2.7%. Analysed by economic uses, lending to financial concerns recorded the highest growth rate of 9.5% while trade financing loans declined by 2.9%.
Seasonally-adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 decreased by 0.5% in September but rose by 11.3% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 increased by 3.0% during the month but contracted by 7.4% from a year earlier.
Release Schedule of Monetary Statistics in Hong Kong
The monthly release schedule of monetary statistics in Year 2009 is as follows.
Reference Month Release Date
January 2009 February 27, 2009
February 2009 March 31, 2009
March 2009 April 30, 2009
April 2009 May 29, 2009
May 2009 June 30, 2009
June 2009 July 31, 2009
July 2009 August 31, 2009
August 2009 September 30, 2009
September 2009 October 30, 2009
October 2009 November 30, 2009
November 2009 December 31, 2009
December 2009 January 29, 2010
For further enquiries, please contact:
Hing-fung Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1802 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480
Ends/Friday, October 31, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:32
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