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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (October 9) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$130.3 billion at the end of September 2006 (end-August 2006: US$128.9 billion).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of September 2006 also stood at US$130.3 billion (end-August 2006: US$128.9 billion).
Hong Kong is the world's seventh largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Korea and India.
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$130.3 billion represent over six times the currency in circulation or about 39% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
Release calendar
The release calendar of foreign currency reserve assets for 2007 is announced below:
Reference Month Release Date
January 2007 February 7, 2007
February 2007 March 7, 2007
March 2007 April 11, 2007
April 2007 May 7, 2007
May 2007 June 7, 2007
June 2007 July 9, 2007
July 2007 August 7, 2007
August 2007 September 7, 2007
September 2007 October 8, 2007
October 2007 November 7, 2007
November 2007 December 7, 2007
December 2007 January 7, 2008
For further enquiries, please contact:
Ying-ying Cheng, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
October 9, 2006
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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 October 2006, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
October 9 SDDS International Reserves
(Hong Kong's Latest Foreign
Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
October 16 SDDS Analytical Accounts of
the Central Bank (Analytical
Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
October 27 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance
Sheet and Currency Board Account
October 31 SDDS Template on International
Reserves and Foreign Currency
Liquidity
Ends/Monday, October 9, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:09
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