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Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Friday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,239.5 billion on 28 February 2007. The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released monthly together with the Currency Board Account. At the end of February 2007 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,239.5 billion, were HK$11.4 billion higher than at the end of January 2007. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$16.7 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$5.3 billion. The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuation gains on foreign currency investments, interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets and an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to valuation losses of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund and fiscal drawdowns. The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of February 2007 was HK$308.9 billion, an increase of HK$8.8 billion, or 2.9%, from the end of January 2007. The rise was due mainly to increases in Certificates of Indebtedness, Government-issued currency notes and market value of Exchange Fund Bills and Notes outstanding. The Backing Assets increased by HK$11.8 billion, or 3.6%, to HK$341.4 billion. The increase was attributable mainly to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness and Government-issued currency notes in the Monetary Base, interest from investments and revaluation gains. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose from 109.83% at the end of January 2007 to 110.53% at the end of February 2007. Attachment
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enquiries, please contact: Hong Kong Monetary
Authority ******************************************************************** 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 March 2007, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
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