Foreign currency reserves at US$193.4 billion
Hong Kong’s foreign currency reserve assets stood at US$193.4 billion at end-April, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. A month prior, these assets amounted to US$186.3 billion.
Including unsettled forward contracts, foreign currency reserve assets at end-April stood at US$194 billion, compared to US$186.3 billion a month earlier.
Based on these latest figures, Hong Kong is the world’s seventh-largest holder of foreign currency reserves after mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, India and South Korea.
The assets represent approximately eight times the currency in circulation, or 45% of Hong Kong dollar M3.
Exchange Fund totals US$205.62 billion
Total assets of the Hong Kong Exchange Fund amounted to US$205.62 billion on March 31, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. This is US$12.14 billion more than at end-February.
Foreign currency assets increased US$12.39 billion, while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased US$256.4 million.
The increase in foreign currency assets is due mainly to valuation gains on foreign currency investments and purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars.
The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets is due mainly to fiscal drawdowns and the sale of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies. These decreases were substantially offset by increases in the balance of the banking system, bank borrowings and placement by Hong Kong statutory bodies.
The Currency Board Account shows the monetary base at end-March was US$73.07 billion, a 7.6% increase of US$5.17 billion from the previous month. The rise is due mainly to an increase in the aggregate balance.
Backing assets increased US$5.58 billion, or 7.6%, to US$79.06 billion. The increase is attributable mainly to an increase in the aggregate balance, together with interest and revaluation gains from investments. The backing ratio remained unchanged at 108.19%.
Provisional results show government surplus
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government recently announced provisional results for the fiscal year that ended March 31.
Expenditures for the year amounted to US$40.39 billion, with revenues of US$40.57 billion, resulting in a surplus of US$179.48 million.
The surplus represents a US$807.69 million turnaround from the revised deficit that was forecast. Revenues were US$461.53 million higher than expected, largely as a result of larger receipts of salaries tax and profits tax; expenditures were US$345.15 million lower than forecast, mainly due to lower requirements.
Fiscal reserves stood at US$63.37 billion at end-March. All figures are provisional pending the final closing of the annual accounts, but any changes are unlikely to be significant.
Banking license granted to BNP subsidiary
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has granted a banking license to BNP Paribas Securities Services (BPSS), effective May 8.
BPSS is incorporated in France and is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas (BP). According to the July 2008 issue of The Banker, BP is the second-largest bank in France and the 11th-largest bank in the world in terms of Tier 1 capital.
The number of licensed banks in Hong Kong now totals 143.
|
