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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (August 7) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$137.1 billion at the end of July 2007 (end-June 2007: US$136.3 billion) (Table 1).
Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of July 2007 also stood at US$137.1 billion (end-June 2007: US$136.3 billion).
Hong Kong is the world's ninth largest holder of foreign currency reserves based on the latest published figures, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Korea, India, Brazil and Singapore (Table 2).
The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$137.1 billion represent about seven times the currency in circulation or 33% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Sara Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
7 August 2007
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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 August 2007, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
August 7 SDDS International Reserves
(Hong Kong's Latest Foreign
Currency Reserve Assets
Figures)
August 14 SDDS Analytical Accounts of
the Central Bank
(Analytical Accounts of the
Exchange Fund)
August 31 Exchange Fund Abridged Balance
Sheet and Currency Board Account
August 31 SDDS Template on International
Reserves and Foreign Currency
Liquidity
Ends/Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:35
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