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Deposits
Total HK dollar deposits contracted by 0.5% in January 1995. HK dollar demand and savings deposits continued to shift towards time deposits during the month. HK dollar demand deposits and savings deposits fell by 7% and 4.8% respectively while time deposits rose by 2.4%.
Foreign currency deposits fell by 1.4% in January. The decline was mainly found in US dollar deposits which decreased by 2.2% while other foreign currency deposits fell by 0.5%.
Swap deposits fell markedly by 13.7% in January as some of these deposits were switched to HK dollar time deposits after the second stage of deregulation. From January 3, Hong Kong Association of Banks' interest rate ceiling no longer applied to time deposits fixed for more than one week.
Loans and Advances
The growth of total outstanding loans and advances extended by authorised institutions picked up from 0.5% in December 1994 to 0.9% in January 1995. Loans relating to trade finance registered the largest growth of 2.6% during the month.
Money Supply
Owing to the Lunar New Year demand, currency held by the public had a rapid surge of 23.9% in January. Although part of the increase was offset by the decline in demand deposits, HK$M! still recorded a notable increase of 5.5% during the month.
The growth of HK$M3 slipped slightly from 1.2% in December 1994 to 1.1% in January 1995.
Note to Editors:
For further press enquiries, please contact the Press and Publications Section, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, on telephone 2878 8261.
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