Monetary Statistics for March 2014
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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     According to statistics published today (April 30) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions dropped by 1.5% in March 2014. As the contraction in demand and savings deposits exceeded the expansion in time deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits went down by 2.2% in March. Overall foreign-currency deposits decreased by 0.9% in March, while renminbi deposits in Hong Kong increased by 2.7% to RMB944.9 billion at the end of March. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB602.4 billion in March, compared with RMB394.1 billion in February.

     Total loans and advances decreased by 1.2% in March. Loans for use in Hong Kong including trade finance declined by 1.6% from a month ago, and loans for use outside Hong Kong edged down by 0.3%. As both Hong Kong-dollar loans and deposits decreased at the same rate, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio remained virtually unchanged at 84.3% at the end of March.  

     In the first quarter of 2014, loans for use in Hong Kong including trade finance rose by 6.5% after declining by 0.3% in the previous quarter. Analysed by economic use, the quarterly expansion in loans was led by trade finance, loans for financial concerns and stockbrokers, and loans for building, construction, property development and investment.  

     Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 went up by 1.9% in March and rose by 7.4% year on year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 decreased by 2.1% but expanded by 7.1% from a year earlier.

Ends/Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:47

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