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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (March 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions declined slightly by 0.2% in February 2010. Hong Kong-dollar deposits contracted by 0.5% during the month, as the contraction in savings deposits exceeded the expansion in demand deposits. Foreign-currency deposits were little changed in February. Accounting for around 2.5% of foreign-currency deposits, renminbi deposits in Hong Kong climbed by 3.3% to RMB66.1 billion at the end of February.
Total loans and advances increased by 1.5% in February. Loans for use in Hong Kong grew by 1.0% and loans for use outside Hong Kong rose by 3.8%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans expanded while deposits contracted, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio rose from 73.0% at the end of January to 73.8% at the end of February.
Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 expanded by 1.1% in February and increased by 34.5% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 shrank by 0.1% during the month but rose by 10.7% year on year.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Peggy Lo, Manager (Communications), at 2878 1687 or
Natalie Wu, Officer (Communications), at 2878 8246
Ends/Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:30
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