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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (August 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased slightly by 0.2% in July 2009. Hong Kong-dollar deposits were little changed during the month as the rise in demand and savings deposits roughly offset the decline in time deposits. Foreign-currency deposits expanded by 0.4% in July. Accounting for around 2.1% of foreign-currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong climbed by 2.8% to RMB55.9 billion at the end of July.
Total loans and advances contracted by 1.0% in July. Loans for use in Hong Kong shrank by 1.3% while loans for use outside Hong Kong rose by 0.4%. Reflecting the contraction in Hong Kong-dollar loans, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio declined to 70.8% at the end of July from 72.1% at the end of June.
Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 rose by 5.0% in July and increased by 35.8% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 grew slightly by 0.1% during the month and expanded by 13.8% year on year.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Communications Chief, at 2878 1480 or
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687
Ends/Monday, August 31, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:31
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