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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$1,256.9 billion on 30 June 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 June 2007 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,256.9 billion, were HK$14.7 billion higher than at the end of May 2007. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$6.6 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$8.1 billion. The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets, increases in securities purchased but settled in the following month and Certificates of Indebtedness. These increases were partly offset by valuation losses on foreign currency investments. The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to valuation gains of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund. The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of June 2007 was HK$298.5 billion, an increase of HK$3.7 billion, or 1.3%, from the end of May 2007. The rise was due mainly to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness. The Backing Assets increased by HK$4.2 billion, or 1.3%, to HK$332.2 billion. The increase was attributable mainly to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base and interest from investments, which were partly offset by revaluation losses. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose from 111.26% at the end of May 2007 to 111.28% at the end of June 2007.
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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 July 2007, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
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