The Government announced today (March 29) the re-appointment of Ms Melissa Kaye Pang as the Chairperson of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education (CPCE), as well as the appointment and re-appointment of non-official members to the CPCE for a term of two years with effect from April 1, 2019.
      
     The Home Affairs Bureau thanked outgoing members Dr Raymond Lee Man-chun, Professor Lena Lee Ying, Mr Wong Wai-kit and Mr Clement Woo Kin-man for their contributions during their term of service.
      
     The membership list of the CPCE for the new term is as follows:
 
Re-appointed members
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Ms Melissa Kaye Pang (Chairperson)
Ms Amy Fung Dun-mi
Miss Maisy Ho Chiu-ha
Mr Rex Ip Yik-nam
Reverend Peter Douglas Koon Ho-ming
Mr Lam Cheung-chi
Mr Liu Ah-chuen
Ms Shirley Marie Therese Loo
Mr Laurence Tang Yat-long
Mr Eric Yeung Chuen-sing
 
New members
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Miss Catherina Choy Mei-wa
Mr Kinsey Ho Ka-tsun
Dr Yan Wai-kiu
Ms Jennifer Yeung Yin-chi
 
     Other non-official members of the Committee are as follows:
 
Dr Chan Cheuk-hay
Dr Andrew Chiu Ka-yin
Mr Stanley Choi Tak-shing
Mr Andrew Fan Chun-wah
Miss Sammi Fu Hiu-lam
Miss Hung Wing-ki
Mr Roger Kwan Ho-yeung
Mr Lai Chin-hong
Mr George Lau Ka-keung
Mrs Christine Lau Ma
Mr Timmy Lee Tan-chun
Ms Fonnie Leung Fung-yee
Miss Bella Lo Sung-yi
Ms Helen Lu Hai
Mr Tang Kwong-shing
Dr Wong Kwok-yan
 
     The official members of the Committee include representatives from the Home Affairs Bureau, the Education Bureau, the Information Services Department, the Department of Justice, the Social Welfare Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, Radio Television Hong Kong and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
      
     The CPCE is a non-statutory advisory body. It advises the Government on the objective and scope of civic education, promotes civic education outside schools through a range of publicity and educational programmes, and assists in the implementation of various funding schemes to support non-governmental organisations in carrying out civic education projects.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (March 29) published the March 2019 issue of its Quarterly Bulletin and Half-Yearly Monetary and Financial Stability Report.
 
     The Quarterly Bulletin carries a feature article, entitled "The Hong Kong Debt Market in 2018". The Half-Yearly Report provides detailed analyses of the global and local economy, as well as the monetary and financial conditions in Hong Kong. It also examines the recent performance and risks of the local banking sector. 
 
     The Quarterly Bulletin and the Half-Yearly Report can be viewed on and downloaded from the HKMA website. A separate, printed version of the Half-Yearly Report (English version only) may be ordered or purchased at the HKMA Information Centre on 55th Floor, Two International Finance Centre at HK$60 a copy.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
      
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the results of the residential mortgage survey for February 2019.
      
     The number of mortgage applications in February decreased month-on-month by 11.9 % to 10,133.  
      
     Mortgage loans approved in February 2019 decreased by 6.9% compared with January to HK$26.1 billion.  Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 6.1% to HK$6.8 billion and those financing secondary market transactions increased by 9.8% to HK$11.9 billion.  Mortgage loans for refinancing decreased by 25.8% to HK$7.3 billion. 
      
     Mortgage loans drawn down during February decreased by 44.6% compared with January to HK$16.5 billion. 
      
     The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR increased from 49.3% in January to 77.5% in February. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates decreased from 48% in January to 20.8% in February.
      
     The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.2% to HK$1,328 billion at end-February. 
      
     The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.02% and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0%.

     The Government today (March 29) announced the appointment of three new Directors and the re-appointment of three serving Directors to the Board of Directors of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2021. 
 
     The three new Directors are Mr Victor Ng Chi-keung, Dr Charleston Sin Chiu-shun and Mr Eric Yeung Chuen-sing.  All of them have strong expertise in innovation and technology and other professional fields.
 
     The three re-appointed Directors are Mr Lau Chun-kong, Mr Ling Kar-kan and Ms Rosana Wong Wai-man.
 
     Welcoming the appointments, the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, said, "With their wealth of experience and expertise in a wide range of businesses, the Board Directors will no doubt continue to lead Cyberport in making Hong Kong a leading innovation and digital technology hub."
 
     Mr Yang also expressed gratitude to the outgoing Directors, Dr Edwin Lee Kan-hing and Dr Gregg G Ka-lok Li, for their invaluable contributions to Cyberport over the years. 
 
     The full membership of the Board with effect from April 1, 2019, is as follows:
 
Dr George Lam (Chairman)
Professor Philip Chan Ching-ho
Ms Karen Chan Ka-yin
Mr Duncan Chiu
Mr Humphrey Choi Chor-ching
Mr Lau Chun-kong
Mr Ling Kar-kan
Mr Victor Ng Chi-keung
Dr Charleston Sin Chiu-shun
Mr Hendrick Sin
Ms Rosana Wong Wai-man
Mr Eric Yeung Chuen-sing
Permanent Secretary for Innovation and Technology

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     According to statistics published today (March 29) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions edged up by 0.1 per cent in February 2019. Hong Kong-dollar deposits grew by 0.2 per cent during the month, as the increase in demand and savings deposits exceeded the decline in time deposits. Overall foreign-currency deposits stayed virtually unchanged in February. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong grew by 1.5 per cent to RMB608.3 billion at the end of February. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB338.6 billion in February, compared with RMB408.1 billion in January 2019.
      
     Total loans and advances grew by 0.2 per cent in February. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) remained virtually unchanged from a month ago, while loans for use outside Hong Kong picked up by 0.7 per cent (Note). The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio picked up to 87.3 per cent at the end of February from 86.8 per cent at the end of January, as Hong Kong-dollar loans grew at a faster pace than Hong Kong-dollar deposits.
      
     On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Hong Kong-dollar M1 rose by 1.5 per cent in February but declined by 3.8 per cent year-on-year. Seasonally unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 edged up by 0.1 per cent during the month and grew by 1.4 per cent from a year earlier. 

Note: The December 2018 figures for loans for use in/outside Hong Kong have been restated to reflect authorised institutions' reclassification of working capital loans. The reported month-on-month growth rates are calculated based on the reclassified loan data. As reclassified loan data before December 2018 are not available, quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth rates of loans for use in/outside Hong Kong (including their sub-components) as shown in Table 1H of the Annex are calculated based on the data without such reclassification.