Monetary Statistics for August 2018
According to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 0.6% in August 2018. Hong Kong-dollar deposits edged down by 0.1% during the month, as the decrease in demand and savings deposits exceeded the increase in time deposits. Overall foreign-currency deposits increased by 1.4% in August. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong rose by 1.7% to RMB618.0 billion at the end of August. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB360.4 billion in August, compared with RMB361.6 billion in July.
Total loans and advances declined by 0.7% in August. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) decreased by 0.5% from a month ago, while loans for use outside Hong Kong dropped by 1.1%. The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio stayed virtually unchanged at 85.1% at the end of August, as Hong Kong-dollar loans and Hong Kong-dollar deposits edged down at the same pace.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Hong Kong-dollar M1 declined by 1.7% in August but increased by 3.3% year-on-year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 edged down by 0.1% during the month but grew by 5.1% from a year earlier.