Private balances
These comprise balances held with all banks and hire purchase
companies in the U.K. by banks, companies and persons domiciled in
Hong Kong. A division by category of holder is not available. At
the end of June nearly four-fifths of these balances were in the
form of deposits. Three-quarters of total balances were held with
the U.K. offices of the three note-issuing banks (Hong Kong and
Shanghai, Chartered and Mercantile). The remaining balances were
fairly widely spread amongst other banks in the U.K. including the
London offices of foreign banks.
Recent Movements
Total gross balances increased during the first four months
of 1967. Although there was little change in the total in May, official balances rose sharply at the expense of private balances
as a result of a rise in the currency issue. In June the total
fell by £13 million, of which £8 million was in official balances
and £5 million in private balances.
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