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

     According to statistics published today (November 30) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions increased by 3.8% in October 2017. As the increase in demand deposits exceeded the decrease in savings and time deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits rose by 6.8% during the month. Overall foreign-currency deposits increased by 0.6% in October. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong increased by 0.9% to RMB540.3 billion at the end of October. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB314.5 billion in October, compared with RMB327.9 billion in September.

     Total loans and advances rose by 4.9% in October. The loan growth in October 2017 was mainly driven by initial public offering (IPO) loans (around HK$379 billion) straddling the end of October. Excluding IPO loans, the loan growth in October would have been 0.7%. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) expanded by 6.8% from a month ago and loans for use outside Hong Kong increased by 0.4%. As Hong Kong-dollar loans increased at a faster pace than Hong Kong-dollar deposits, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio went up to 80.2% at the end of October from 78.8% at the end of September.

     Seasonally adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 increased by 3.7% in October and expanded by 17.0% year on year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 picked up by 6.1% during the month and rose by 19.1% from a year earlier.

Ends/Thursday, November 30, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:00

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