Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (March 29) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$4,165.4 billion as at February 28, 2019, HK$16.2 billion lower than that at the end of January 2019. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$1.7 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$14.5 billion.
 
     The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness and a decrease in unsettled purchases of securities, which were partly offset by income from foreign currency portfolios. The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to withdrawals of placements by Fiscal Reserves and HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies, which were partly offset by an increase in market value of Hong Kong equities.
 
     The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of February 2019 was HK$1,646.6 billion, decreased by HK$9.1 billion, or 0.6 per cent, from the end of January 2019. The decline was mainly due to the decrease in the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness.
 
     The amount of Backing Assets decreased by HK$6.2 billion, or 0.3 per cent, to HK$1,816.6 billion. The decrease was mainly attributable to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness, which was partly offset by interest from investments. The backing ratio increased from 110.09 per cent at the end of January 2019 to 110.33 per cent at the end of February 2019.
 
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     At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of March 2019, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: