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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (February 9) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$273.2 billion as at the end of January 2011 (end December 2010: US$268.7 billion) (Table 1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of January 2011 also stood at US$273.2 billion (end December 2010: US$268.9 billion).
Hong Kong is the world's ninth largest holder of foreign currency reserves based on the latest published figures, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, India, Brazil and Korea (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$273.2 billion represent over eight times the currency in circulation or about 55% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
Commenting on the trend of growth in foreign currency reserves in the past year, Executive Director (Monetary Management) of the HKMA, Mr Edmond Lau said that "in contrast with some of our Asian neighbours, such as Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia which recorded significant rise in foreign reserves in recent months, the increase in Hong Kong's foreign reserves has been rather moderate because there was no net inflow of funds into Hong Kong in 2010."
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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 February 2011, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
February 9
SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
February 14
SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
February 28
Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account
February 28
SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:54
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