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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (October 7) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$266.1 billion at the end of September 2010 (end-August 2010: US$261.4 billion) (Table 1). There were no unsettled forward contracts at end of September and end of August.
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$266.1 billion represent over nine times the currency in circulation or about 56% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
Release calendar
The release calendar of foreign currency reserve assets for 2011 is announced below:
Reference Month Release Date
January 2011 February 9, 2011
February 2011 March 7, 2011
March 2011 April 7, 2011
April 2011 May 9, 2011
May 2011 June 7, 2011
June 2011 July 7, 2011
July 2011 August 8, 2011
August 2011 September 7, 2011
September 2011 October 7, 2011
October 2011 November 7, 2011
November 2011 December 7, 2011
December 2011 January 9, 2012
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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 October 2010, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
October 7
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
October 14
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
October 29
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
October 29
SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Thursday, October 7, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:16
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