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Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Thursday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$1,409.2 billion on 30 June 2008. 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 2008 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,409.2 billion, were HK$39.4 billion lower than at the end of May 2008. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$17.8 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$21.6 billion. The decline in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuation losses on foreign currency investments, which was partly offset by 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 on Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund and fiscal drawdowns, which were partly offset by an increase in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled. The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of June 2008 was HK$326.2 billion, an increase of HK$1.0 billion, or 0.3%, from the end of May 2008. The rise was due mainly to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness. The Backing Assets increased by HK$2.5 billion, or 0.7%, to HK$359.2 billion. The increase was attributable mainly to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base together with revaluation gains and interest from investments. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose from 109.70% at the end of May 2008 to 110.14% at the end of June 2008.
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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 July 2008, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
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