Monetary Statistics for September 2013
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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

      According to statistics published today (October 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 2.9% in September. With demand, savings and time deposits increasing, Hong Kong-dollar deposits grew by 3.6% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits rose by 2.3% in September, and renminbi deposits in Hong Kong picked up by 2.9% to RMB730.0 billion at the end of September. The total remittance of the renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB331.7 billion in September, compared with RMB304.2 billion in the previous month.

     Total loans and advances picked up by 2.2% in September. Loans for use in Hong Kong including trade finance increased by 1.6% and loans for use outside Hong Kong expanded by 3.6%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans grew at a slower rate than deposits, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio declined to 82.6% at the end of September from 83.7% a month ago.

     In the third quarter of 2013, loans for use in Hong Kong including trade finance went up by 3.6%, following an expansion of 7.1% in the previous quarter. Analysed by economic use, the quarterly expansion in loans was led by trade finance, loans for building, construction, property development and investment, and loans for financial concerns and stockbrokers.

     Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 rose by 0.7% in September and expanded by 14.5% year on year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 increased by 3.5% during the month and rose by 9.6% from a year earlier.

Release schedule of monetary statistics in Hong Kong

     The monthly release schedule of monetary statistics in year 2014 is as follows:

Reference month        Release date
---------------        ------------
January 2014           February 28, 2014
February 2014          March 31, 2014
March 2014             April 30, 2014
April 2014             May 30, 2014
May 2014               June 30, 2014
June 2014              July 31, 2014
July 2014              August 29, 2014
August 2014            September 30, 2014
September 2014         October 31, 2014
October 2014           November 28, 2014
November 2014          December 31, 2014
December 2014          January 30, 2015

Ends/Thursday, October 31, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:16

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