***********************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (November 9) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$240.1 billion at the end of October 2009 (end-September 2009: US$226.9 billion) (Table 1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of October 2009 also stood at US$240.1 billion (end-September 2009: US$229.2 billion).
Hong Kong is the world's seventh largest holder of foreign currency reserves based on the latest published figures, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, India and Korea (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$240.1 billion represent over nine times the currency in circulation or about 51% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687
Natalie Wu, Officer (Communications), at 2878 8246
*****************************************************
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 November 2009, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
November 9 SDDS International Reserves
(Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency
Reserve Assets Figures)
November 16 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the
Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of
the Exchange Fund)
November 27 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet
and Currency Board Account
November 30 SDDS Template on International
Reserves and Foreign Currency
Liquidity
Ends/Monday, November 9, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:40
NNNN
