The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     According to statistics published today (July 31) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorised institutions edged down by 0.2 per cent in June 2018. Hong Kong-dollar deposits decreased by 0.2 per cent during the month, as the decline in demand and savings deposits exceeded the increase in time deposits. Overall foreign-currency deposits edged down by 0.3 per cent in June. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong declined by 2.7 per cent to RMB584.5 billion at the end of June. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB345.7 billion in June, compared with RMB341.6 billion in May.
 
     Total loans and advances rose by 0.9 per cent in June. The loan growth in June 2018 was partly driven by initial public offering (IPO) loans (around HK$15.3 billion) at end-June. Loan growth in June would have been 0.7 per cent if the IPO loans at end-June were excluded. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) picked up by 1.3 per cent from a month ago while loans for use outside Hong Kong edged down by 0.1 per cent. The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio went up to 85.4% at the end of June from 83.9 per cent at the end of May, as Hong Kong-dollar loans expanded while Hong Kong-dollar deposits declined.
 
     In the second quarter of 2018, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) grew by 1.7 per cent following growth of 3.6 per cent in the previous quarter. Analysed by economic use, the increase in loans during the second quarter was mainly driven by loans to financial concerns, loans to manufacturing and residential mortgage loans.
 
     On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Hong Kong-dollar M1 declined by 2.7 per cent in June but expanded by 8.6% year-on-year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 edged down by 0.2 per cent during the month but rose by 6.3 per cent from a year earlier.

Ends/Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:05

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