*************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (December 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions decreased by 1.1% in November, with the contraction in Hong Kong dollar deposits exceeding the expansion in foreign currency deposits. Hong Kong dollar time deposits declined by 18.3%, reflecting lower term deposits interest rates. On the other hand, Hong Kong dollar demand deposits expanded by 64.7% due to fund-raising activities in the stock market. Renminbi deposits grew by 7.0% to RMB 30.2 billion yuan at the end of November.
Total loans and advances rose by 0.2% during the month. Loans for use in Hong Kong decreased by 0.5% whereas loans for use outside Hong Kong expanded by 4.2%. The Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio increased to 71.7% at the end of November.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 rose by 13.5% in November and by 36.8% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both decreased by 3.1% during the month. On a year-on-year comparison, Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 grew by 22.1% and 22.0% respectively.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480 or
Hing-fung Wong, Officer (Press), at 2878 1802
Ends/Monday, December 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:45
NNNN