Hong Kong Monetary Authority – Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Thursday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$4,451.8 billion as at 30 November 2020, HK$14.4 billion lower than that at the end of October 2020. Foreign currency assets decreased by HK$29.6 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets increased by HK$15.2 billion.

The decline in foreign currency assets was mainly due to a decrease in unsettled purchase of securities, which was partly offset by the mark-to-market revaluation on foreign currency investments. The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to the mark-to-market revaluation on Hong Kong equities.

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of November 2020 was HK$2,109.6 billion, increased by HK$0.6 billion from the end of October 2020. The rise was mainly due to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness.

The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$0.7 billion to HK$2,316.7 billion. The increase was mainly attributable to the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness. The backing ratio increased from 109.81% at the end of October 2020 to 109.82% at the end of November 2020.

Annex 1: Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2: Currency Board Account

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
31 December 2020

*****************************************************************

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 December 2020, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: