The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
According to statistics published today (February 28) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions remained virtually unchanged in January 2020. Among the total, Hong Kong dollar deposits grew by 1.1 per cent, while overall foreign-currency deposits declined by 1.2 per cent. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong decreased by 3.1 per cent to RMB612.5 billion at the end of January. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB404.7 billion in January, compared with RMB541.1 billion in December 2019.
Total loans and advances increased by 0.7 per cent in January. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) went up by 0.8 per cent and loans for use outside Hong Kong increased by 0.3 per cent from a month ago. The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio decreased to 89.4% at the end of January from 90.3 per cent at the end of December 2019, as Hong Kong-dollar deposits increased while Hong Kong-dollar loans stayed virtually unchanged.
Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both increased by 1.3 per cent in January, and rose by 2.5 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively compared to a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted Hong Kong dollar M1 increased by 4.1 per cent in January, and increased by 0.6 per cent compared to a year ago, reflecting in part investment-related activities. Total M2 and M3 both increased by 0.2 per cent in January, and expanded by 2.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively from a year earlier.
As monthly monetary statistics are subject to volatilities due to a wide range of transient factors, such as seasonal and IPO-related funding demand as well as business and investment-related activities, caution is required when interpreting the statistics.
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