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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (November 28) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions decreased by 0.6% in October 2008. Hong Kong-dollar deposits rose by 0.3% during the month, as the increases in demand and time deposits exceeded the decline in savings deposits. Foreign-currency deposits contracted by 1.6% in October. Accounting for around 2.6% of foreign-currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong declined further by 5.5% to RMB66.1 billion yuan at the end of October.
Total loans and advances shrank by 0.4% in October. Loans for use in Hong Kong decreased by 0.6% while loans for use outside Hong Kong increased by 0.3%. The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio contracted further to 81.1% at the end of October, because loans declined but deposits grew.
Seasonally-adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 decreased by 0.5% in October but rose by 10.9% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 increased by 0.3% during the month but contracted by 14.7% from a year earlier. The latter reflected the high base effect associated with vibrant IPO activities at the end of October 2007.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687
Ends/Friday, November 28, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:07
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