SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1981
MONEY SUPPLY AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS
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THE MONEY SUPPLY AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS FOR OCTOBER 1981 ARE PUBLISHED TODAY. TOTAL CREDIT TO THE ECONOMY ROSE IN OCTOBER BY MUCH LESS THAN IN SEPTEMBER, PARTLY IN REACTION TO HIGHER DOMESTIC INTEREST RATES, AND THERE WAS AN INFLOW OF FUNDS INTO THE HONG KONG MONETARY SECTOR DURING THE MONTH, PRESUMABLY ON THE SAME CONSIDERATION, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO A LARGER GROWTH IN THE MONEY SUPPLY (HK$M3) THAN IN THE PREVIOUS MONTH,
IN THE FIRST TEN MONTHS OF 1981 (THE LONGEST PERIOD FOR WHICH THE SERIES IS AVAILABLE) HK$M3 HAS RISEN BY 17.2 PER CENT, EQUIVALENT TO AN ANNUAL RATE OF SOME 21 PER CENT, WHILE JANS FOR USE IN HONG KONG HAVE RISEN BY 33.4 PER CENT (AN ANNUAL RATE OF SOME 41 PER CENT).
TABLE 1 SETS OUT THE DETAILED FIGURES FOR OCTOBER 1981, AND FOR EARLIER MONTHS, FROM THE NEW SERIES OF STATISTICS NOW BEING COLLECTED UNDER THE MONETARY STATISTICS ORDINANCE 1980. THE NEW SERIES IS BEING PUBLISHED EACH MONTH. TABLE 2 SETS OUT THE FIGURES FOR OCTOBER 1981 FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES OF MONEY AND BANKING FIGURES, COLLECTED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF BANK ING/COMMISSIONER OF DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES.
MONEY SUPPLY NEW SERIES
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THE MONEY SUPPLY ON THE BROADEST DEFINITIONS IN THE NEW SERIES CONTINUED TO RISE IN OCTOBER, WITH M3 TOTAL UP BY 1.5 PER CENT AND HK$M3 UP BY 1.2 PER CENT, AFTER INCREASING BY 0.9 PER CENT AND 0.3 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY IN SEPTEMBER. IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS M3 - TOTAL ROSE BY 5.8 PER CENT AND HK$M3 BY 4.2 PER CENT, AS COMPARED TO THE IR RESPECTIVE INCREASES OF 8.0 PER CENT AND 5.0 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS THREE MONTHS.
LOANS FOR USE IN HONG KONG
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NEW SERIES
LOANS FOR USE IN HONG KONG BY BANKS AND DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES ROSE IN OCTOBER BY 0.9 PER CENT, DOWN FROM AN INCREASE OF 3.5 PER CENT IN SEPTEMBER. THE GROWTH RATE OF LOANS BY BANKS IN OCTOBER, AT 0.1 PER CENT, WAS MUCH LESS THAN THAT OF 3.7 PER CENT IN SEPTEMBER, WHILE THE GROWTH OF LOANS BY DTCS, AT 3.0 PER CENT, WAS UNCHANGED FROM THAT IN THE PREVIOUS MONTH. IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS TOTAL LOANS FOR USE IN HONG KONG ROSE BY 9.1 PER CENT, FOLLOWING A 11.0 PER CENT RISE IN THE PRECEDING THREE MONTHS.
/RES
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