International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
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    The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (August 31) analytical data on the Hong Kong SAR's foreign currency reserves and foreign currency liquidity at the end of July 2005 (Annex).  These data are published monthly in the Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard.

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      At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued 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 2005, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

August 8        SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong's Latest
(Issued)        Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
August 15       SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank
(Issued)        (Exchange Fund Balance Sheet D ata)
August 26       Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet
(Issued)        and Currency Board Account
August 31       SDDS Template on International Reserves and
                Foreign Currency Liquidity

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Hing-Fung Wong, Resource Co-ordinator, at 2878 1802

Ends/Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Issued at HKT 16:30

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