Monetary Statistics for February 2007

According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 3.4% in February 2007. Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency deposits rose by 5.3% and 1.1% respectively. Within foreign currency deposits, renminbi deposits increased to RMB 24.9 billion yuan at the end of February.

Total loans and advances expanded by 5.4% during the month, with Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency loans increasing by 5.3% and 5.8% respectively. Loans for use in Hong Kong and outside Hong Kong grew by 5.3% and 5.7% respectively. Because Hong Kong dollar loans increased at about the same rate as Hong Kong dollar deposits, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio remained stable at 75.6% in February.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 grew by 3.7% in February and by 14.3% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 expanded by 5.3% and 5.2% respectively during the month. On a year-on-year comparison, Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both increased by 17.3%.

Annex

For further enquiries, please contact:
Sara Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 March 2007