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MONDAY, MAY 5, 1986
LOANS AND ADVANCES CONTINUED TO GROW IN MARCH. LOANS TO FINANCE THE VISIBLE TRADE OF HONG KONG RECORDED A LARGER INCREASE THAN IN THE PREVIOUS MONTH. OTHER LOANS FOR USE IN HONG KONG, HOWEVER, SHOWED LITTLE CHANGE.
TABLE 1 SETS OUT SUMMARY FIGURES FOR MARCH 1986 AND COMPARISONS WITH EARLIER MONTHS, TABLE 2 SETS OUT FIGURES FROM THE QUARTERLY ANALYSIS OF LOANS AND ADVANCES FOR USE IN HONG KONG BY SECTOR.
DEPOSITS
IN MARCH, HONG KONG DOLLAR DEMAND DEPOSITS FELL BY 3.0 PER CENT AFTER FALLING BY 5.0 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS MONTH- SAVINGS DEPOSITS ALSO FELL BY 1.6 PER CENT, BUT TIME DEPOSITS WITH BANKS INCREASED BY 1.2 PER CENT. TOTAL HONG KONG DOLLAR DEPOSITS WITH ALL DEPOSIT-TAKING INSTITUTIONS DECREASED BY 1.0 PER CENT IN MARCH- THEY GREW BY 2.0 PER CENT IN THE THREE MONTHS TO MARCH AND BY 9.2 PER CENT OVER THE 12 MONTHS.
FOREIGN CURRENCY DEPOSITS FELL SLIGHTLY, BY 0.1 PER CENT, FOLLOWING AN INCREASE OF 3.7 PER CENT AND 4.2 PER CENT IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. IN THE THREE MONTHS TO MARCH FOREIGN CURRENCY DEPOSITS GREW BY 7.8 PER CENT AND OVER THE 12 MONTHS BY 36.4 PER CENT.
FOREIGN CURRENCY SWAP DEPOSITS INCREASED, BY 2.4 PER CENT, AFTER AN INCREASE OF 3.2 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY. ADJUSTED TO INCLUDE THESE DEPOSITS, HONG KONG DOLLAR DEPOSITS FELL BY 0.7 PER CENT IN MARCH, WHILE FOREIGN CURRENCY DEPOSITS FELL BY 0.4 PER CENT.
DEPOSITS (ALL CURRENCIES) WITH BANKS DROPPED BY 0.1 PER CENT IN MARCH, FOLLOWING AN INCREASE OF 2.4 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY TOTAL DEPOSITS WITH DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES FELL BY 2.5 PER CENT AFTER AN
INCREASE OF 1.2 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY.
IN THE THREE MONTHS TO MARCH, THE GROWTH OF TOTAL DEPOSITS WITH BANKS WAS 5.7 PER CENT, WHILE THAT OF DEPOSITS WITH DEPOSIT- TAKING COMPANIES WAS 2.1 PER CENT; OVER THE 12 MONTHS, THE RESPECTIVE GROWTH RATES WERE 24.3 PER CENT AND 14.4 PËR CENT.
PHONG KONG