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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$1,406.5 billion on 31 July 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 July 2008 the total assets of the Exchange Fund, at HK$1,406.5 billion, were HK$2.7 billion lower than at the end of June 2008. Foreign currency assets increased by HK$4.0 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$6.7 billion. The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets and an increase in securities purchased but settled in the following month. These increases were partly offset by redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to fiscal drawdowns and a decrease in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled, which were partly offset by valuation gains on Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund and an increase in bank borrowings. The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of July 2008 was HK$324.3 billion, a decrease of HK$1.9 billion, or 0.6%, from the end of June 2008. The decline was due mainly to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness. The Backing Assets decreased by HK$0.7 billion, or 0.2%, to HK$358.5 billion. The decrease was attributable mainly to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base, which was partly offset by revaluation gains and interest from investments. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose from 110.14% at the end of June 2008 to 110.56% at the end of July 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 August 2008, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
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