TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1984
THE MONTH ALSO COVERED A PERIOD OF SOME ANXIETY IN LOCAL FINANCIAL MARKETS WHICH, COUPLED WITH THE GLOBAL STRENGTH OF THE US DOLLAR, ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO THE SWITCH.
REFLECTING THIS CHANGE, HONG KONG DOLLAR MONEY SUPPLY ON ALL DEFINITIONS FELL. FOR THE TOTAL MONEY SUPPLY ONLY THE BROADEST DEFINITION, M3, SHOWED SOME INCREASE.
LOANS TO FINANCE VISIBLE TRADE OF HONG KONG CONTINUED TO RISE SHARPLY BUT OTHER LOANS FOR USE IN HONG KONG CONTRACTED SLIGHTLY IN APRIL.
(A STATISTICAL TABLE IS BEING ISSUED BY FACSIMILE AND BOXED FOR COLLECTION. THE TABLE SETS OUT SUMMARY FIGURES FOR APRIL 1984 AND COMPARISONS WITH EARLIER MONTHS.)
DEPOSITS
HONG KONG DOLLAR DEPOSITS FELL BY 1.5 PER CENT FOLLOWING A DECREASE OF 0.7 PER CENT IN MARCH. IN THE THREE MONTHS TO APRIL HONG KONG DOLLAR DEPOSITS INCREASED BY 4.1 PER CENT AND OVER THE TWELVE MONTHS THE INCREASE WAS 26.7 PER CENT, FOREIGN
CURRENCY DEPOSITS CONTINUED TO RISE SHARPLY BY 5.4 PER CENT AFTER A RISE OF 5.0 PER CENT IN MARCH. IN THE THREE MONTHS TO APRIL. THE INCREASE WAS 9.4 PER CENT AND OVER THE TWELVE MONTHS THE INCREASE WAS 37.7 PER CENT.
HONG KONG DOLLAR MONEY SUPPLY
HONG KONG DOLLAR MONEY SUPPLY ON ALL DEFINITIONS FELL. THE NARROWEST DEFINITION, HK$M1, FELL BY 1.7 PER CENT AGAINST A RISE OF 4.6 PER CENT IN MARCH. THE BROADER DEFINITIONS, HK$M2 AND
THE IR HK$M3, FELL BY 3.4 PER CENT AND 1.6 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY. CORRESPONDING DECREASES IN MARCH WERE 0.5 PER CENT AND 0.7 PER CENT.
IN THE THREE MONTHS TO APRIL, HK$M1 FELL BY 5.6 PER CENT BUT HK$M2 AND HK$M3 ROSE BY 1.5 PER CENT AND 1.9 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY. OVER THE TWELVE MONTHS, THE CORRESPONDING GROWTH RATES WERE 18.6 PER CENT, 25.6 PER CENT AND 24.4 PER CENT.
TOTAL MONEY SUPPLY
TOTAL M1 FELL BY 0.5 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH A GROWTH OF 3.9 PER CENT IN MARCH. TOTAL M2 WAS UNCHANGED AFTER RISING BY 2.4 PER CENT IN MARCH. TOTAL M3 GREW BY 1.4 PER CENT AFTER A RISE OF 1.7 PER CENT IN MARCH, IN THE THREE MONTHS TO APRIL, TOTAL M1 FELL BY 5.0 PER CENT BUT TOTAL M2 AND TOTAL M3 ROSE BY 4.0 PER CENT AND 5.2 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY. OVER THE TWELVE MONTHS, THE CORRESPONDING GROWTH RATES WERE 20.7 PER CENT, 27.6 PER CENT AND 29.9 PER CENT.
/LOANS AND U