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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (April 7) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$272.5 billion as at the end of March 2011 (end February 2011: US$272.7 billion) (Table 1). There were no unsettled forward contracts as at end of March and end of February.
Hong Kong is the world's tenth largest holder of foreign currency reserves based on the latest published figures, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Brazil, India, Korea and Switzerland (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$272.5 billion represent about nine times the currency in circulation or 55% 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 April 2011, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
April 7 SDDS International Reserves
(Hong Kong's Latest Foreign Currency
Reserve Assets Figures)
April 14 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central
Bank
(Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
April 29 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
April 29 SDDS Template on International Reserves
and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Ends/Thursday, April 7, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:26
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