Monetary statistics for July 2013
*********************************

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     According to statistics published today (August 30) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions increased by 1.5% in July. As the expansion in demand and savings deposits exceeded the contraction in time deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits edged up by 0.3% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits expanded by 2.7% in July, while renminbi deposits in Hong Kong declined slightly by 0.4% to RMB695.0 billion at the end of July. The total remittance of the renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB285.4 billion in July, compared with RMB270.8 billion in the previous month.

     Total loans and advances went up by 1.4% in July. Loans for use in Hong Kong including trade finance increased by 0.5%, while loans for use outside Hong Kong rose by 3.6%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans increased at a slightly slower rate than deposits, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio edged down to 83.6% at the end of July from 83.7% a month ago.

     Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 edged down by 0.5% in July but expanded by 16.1% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 picked up by 0.4% during the month but grew by 9.0% from a year earlier.

Ends/Friday, August 30, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:36

NNNN