The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (September 30) the analytical data on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's foreign currency reserves and foreign currency liquidity as at the end of August 2024 (Annex). These data are published monthly in the Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).
 
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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 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 September 2024, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
 

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the results of the residential mortgage survey for August 2024.

     The number of mortgage applications in August decreased month-on-month by 12.2 per cent to 5,919.

     Mortgage loans approved in August decreased by 12.2 per cent compared with July to HK$21.8 billion. Among these, mortgage loans financing primary market transactions decreased by 11.7 per cent to HK$7.6 billion and those financing secondary market transactions decreased by 13.7 per cent to HK$11.8 billion. Mortgage loans for refinancing decreased by 5.6 per cent to HK$2.4 billion. 

     Mortgage loans drawn down during August decreased by 2.9 per cent compared with July to HK$15.9 billion. 

     The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to HIBOR decreased from 89.8 per cent in July to 88.6 per cent in August. The ratio of new mortgage loans priced with reference to best lending rates increased from 4.6 per cent in July to 6 per cent in August.

     The outstanding value of mortgage loans increased month-on-month by 0.1 per cent to HK$1,870.3 billion at end-August. 

     The mortgage delinquency ratio remained unchanged at 0.1 per cent and the rescheduled loan ratio remained unchanged at nearly 0 per cent.

     The Government announced today (September 30) its financial results for the five months ended August 31, 2024.
 
     Expenditure from April to August 2024 amounted to HK$302.8 billion and revenue HK$101.8 billion, resulting in a deficit of HK$183.9 billion after taking into account the proceeds of HK$24.9 billion received from issuance of Government Bonds and repayment of HK$7.8 billion principal on Government Bonds.
 
     A Government spokesperson said that the deficit for the period was mainly due to the fact that some major types of revenue including salaries and profits taxes are mostly received towards the end of a financial year.
 
     The fiscal reserves stood at HK$550.7 billion as at August 31, 2024.
 
     Detailed figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
 
TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT (Note 1)
 

 
Government Debts as at August 31, 2024 (Note 3)
    HK$211,194 million
Debts Guaranteed by Government as at August 31, 2024 (Note 4)
    HK$138,806 million

TABLE 2. FISCAL RESERVES
 

Notes:

1. This Account consolidates the General Revenue Account and the following eight Funds: Capital Works Reserve Fund, Capital Investment Fund, Civil Service Pension Reserve Fund, Disaster Relief Fund, Innovation and Technology Fund, Land Fund, Loan Fund and Lotteries Fund. It excludes the Bond Fund, the balance of which is not part of the fiscal reserves. The Bond Fund balance as at August 31, 2024, was HK$223,639 million.

2. Includes transactions with the Exchange Fund and resident banks.

3. These were the Green Bonds (equivalent to HK$211,194 million as at August 31, 2024) issued under the Government Green Bond Programme. They were denominated in US dollars (US$9,950 million with maturity from January 2026 to January 2053), euros (5,330 million euros with maturity from January 2025 to November 2041), Renminbi (RMB41,500 million with maturity from November 2024 to July 2054) and Hong Kong dollars (HK$42,000 million with maturity from May 2025 to October 2026). They do not include the outstanding bonds with nominal value of HK$180,199 million and alternative bonds with nominal value of US$1,000 million (equivalent to HK$7,798 million as at August 31, 2024) issued under the Government Bond Programme (with proceeds credited to the Bond Fund). Of these bonds under the Government Bond Programme (including Silver Bonds with nominal value of HK$97,199 million, which may be redeemed before maturity upon request from bond holders), bonds with nominal value of HK$12,500 million will mature within the period from September 2024 to August 2025 and the rest within the period from September 2025 to May 2042.

4. Includes guarantees provided under the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2001, the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2008, the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme launched in 2012, and Loan Guarantee Scheme for Cross-boundary Passenger Transport Trade, Loan Guarantee Scheme for Battery Electric Taxis and Loan Guarantee Scheme for Travel Sector launched in 2023.
 
5. Includes HK$265,217 million, being the balance of the Land Fund held in the name of "Future Fund", for long-term investments up to December 31, 2030. The Future Fund also includes HK$4,800 million, being one-third of the actual surplus in 2015-16 as top-up.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     According to statistics published today (September 30) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, total deposits with authorized institutions increased by 1.1 per cent in August 2024. Among the total, Hong Kong dollar deposits and foreign currency deposits increased by 0.2 per cent and 2.0 per cent respectively in August. In the year to end-August, total deposits and Hong Kong dollar deposits grew by 5.0 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong decreased by 4.1 per cent in August to RMB1,014.1 billion at the end of August. The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB 1,267.9 billion in August, compared with RMB1,281.5 billion in July. It should be noted that changes in deposits are affected by a wide range of factors, such as interest rate movements and fund-raising activities. It is therefore more appropriate to observe the longer-term trends, and not to over-generalise fluctuations in a single month.

     Total loans and advances increased by 0.3 per cent in August, while decreased by 2.7 per cent in the year to end-August. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) and loans for use outside Hong Kong increased by 0.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively in August. The Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio decreased to 79.3 per cent at the end of August from 80.0 per cent at the end of July, as Hong Kong dollar deposits increased while Hong Kong dollar loans decreased.

     Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both increased by 0.2 per cent in August and both increased by 1.9 per cent when compared to a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted Hong Kong dollar M1 decreased by 1.2 per cent in August and decreased by 3.7 per cent compared to a year ago, reflecting in part investment-related activities. Total M2 and total M3 both increased by 1.1 per cent in August. Compared to a year earlier, total M2 and total M3 both increased by 7.8 per cent.

     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.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Exchange Fund Bills tender results:
 

 
*"Pro rata ratio" refers to the average percentage of allotment with respect to each tender participant’s tendered amount at the "highest yield accepted" level. 

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     Hong Kong Monetary Authority tenders to be held in the week beginning October 7, 2024: