XN000022-1981-05-08 — Page 5

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FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1981

MONEY SUPPLY AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS FOR MARCH 1981

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THE MONEY SUPPLY AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS FOR MARCH 1981 ARE PUBLISHED TODAY (FRIDAY).

THEY SHOW A FALL, PARTLY ON SEASONAL GROUNDS, IN THE QUARTERLY GROWTH RATES OF THE MONEY SUPPLY (M3) AND OF CREDIT TO THE ECONOMY. THERE WAS A FURTHER OUTFLOW OF FUNDS FROM THE HONG KONG MONETARY SECTOR IN THE MONTH.

THE DETAILED FIGURES FOR MARCH 1981, AND COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS MONTHS, ARE SET OUT IN TABLE 1. TABLE 2 SETS OUT SOME FIGURES FROM THE QUARTERLY ANALYSIS OF LOANS AND ADVANCES IN HONG KONG BY SECTOR.

AS THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY POINTED OUT IN PARAGRAPH 32 OF HIS BUDGET SPEECH, OUR MONETARY STATISTICS DO NOT YET PROVIDE A BAS IS FOR REALLY MEANINGFUL ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. THE GOVERNMENT IS HOWEVER NOT YET IN A POSITION TO PUBLISH ON A REGULAR BASIS THE STATISTICS WHICH ARE NOW BEING COLLECTED UNDER THE MONETARY STATISTICS ORDINANCE.

MONEY SUPPLY

THE MONEY SUPPLY ON THE NARROWEST DEFINITION, M1 (NOTES AND COINS WITH THE PUBLIC, PLUS DEMAND DEPOSITS, OTHER THAN FROM BANKS AND DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES, WITH LICENSED BANKS) ROSE BY 0.6 PER CENT DURING MARCH, AFTER FALLING BY 11.2 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY (ON SEASONAL GROUNDS).

M2 (M1 PLUS SAVINGS AND TIME DEPOSITS, OTHER THAN FROM BANKS AND DTCS, WITH LICENSED BANKS) INCREASED BY 1.2 PER CENT IN MARCH, AFTER A 1.4 PER CENT FALL IN FEBRUARY.

M3 (M2 PLUS PUBLIC DEPOSITS WITH DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES) INCREASED BY 1.3 PER CENT IN MARCH, AFTER RISING BY 0.9 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY.

IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1981 M1 FELL FURTHER BY 1.6 PER CENT, AFTER FALLING BY 5.7 PER CENT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1980. BUT IN THE FIRST QUARTER M2 ROSE BY 5,8 PER CENT AND M3 BY 7.3 PER CENT, COMPARED WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE INCREASES OF 1.3 PER CENT AND 8.7 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.

LOANS IN HONG KONG

TOTAL LOANS AND ADVANCES IN HONG KONG GREW BY 2.9 PER CENT IN MARCH, AFTER AN INCREASE OF 2.3 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY, IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1981 TOTAL LOANS AND ADVANCES IN HONG KONG ROSE BY 11.6 PER CENT, WELL DOWN FROM AN INCREASE OF 16.7 PER CENT RECORDED IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1980.

BANK LOANS IN HONG KONG ROSE IN MARCH BY 2.7 PER CENT AND LOANS IN HONG KONG BY DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES BY 3.4 PER CENT AS COMPARED WITH THE INCREASES OF 2.5 PER CENT AND 1.6 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY RESPECTIVELY, BUT THE GROWTH RATES OF LOANS IN HONG KONG BY BANKS AND DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1981 AT, RESPECTIVELY, 11.8 PER CENT AND 10.9 PER CENT, WERE DOWN FROM THE IR INCREASES OF 18.0 PER CENT AND 12.7 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.

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