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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (January 7) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$268.7 billion as at the end of December 2010 (end-November 2010: US$266.1 billion) (Table 1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong as at the end of December 2010 stood at US$268.9 billion (end-November 2010: US$266.1 billion).
Hong Kong is the world's eighth largest holder of foreign currency reserves based on the latest published figures, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, India, Korea and Brazil (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$268.7 billion represent about nine times the currency in circulation or 54% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
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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 January 2011, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
January 7
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
January 14
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
January 28
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
January 31
SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Friday, January 7, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:06
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