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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (July 7) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$114.4 billion at the end of June 2003 (end-May 2003: US$116.1 billion) (Table 1 which is on the HKMA website http://www.hkma.gov.hk).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of June 2003 stood at US$114.2 billion (end-May 2003: US$116.1 billion).
In terms of foreign currency reserves ranking, Hong Kong is the world's fifth largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan and Korea (Table 2 which is on the HKMA website http://www.hkma.gov.hk).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$114.4 billion represent about seven times the currency in circulation or about 44% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
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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 2003, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
July 7 SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong'sLatest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets
Figures)
July 14 SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central
Bank (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet Data)
July 31 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and
Currency Board Account
July 31 SDDS Template on International Reserves
and Foreign Currency Liquidity
For further enquiries, please contact:
Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687
End/Monday, July 7, 2003
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