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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (March 28) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions dropped by 1.2% in February, 2013. As the contraction in savings and time deposits exceeded the expansion in demand deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits decreased by 3.0% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits edged up by 0.7% in February, while renminbi deposits in Hong Kong rose by 4.4% to RMB651.7 billion. The total remittance of the renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB221.7 billion in February, compared with RMB268.5 billion in the previous month.
Total loans and advances edged down by 0.2% in February. Loans for use in Hong Kong including trade finance declined by 0.7%, while loans for use outside Hong Kong increased by 0.8%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans decreased at a slower rate than deposits, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 79.7% at the end of February from 78.4% a month ago.
Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 increased by 1.3% in February and expanded by 17.2% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 declined by 2.7% during the month but grew by 8.5% from a year earlier.
Ends/Thursday, March 28, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:41
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