XN000022-1981-10-08 — Page 5

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1981

AUGUST MONEY SUPPLY AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS

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THE MONEY SUPPLY AND FINANCIAL STATISTICS FOR AUGUST ARE PUBLISHED TODAY.

THEY SHOW A RISE IN AUGUST IN THE MONEY SUPPLY (ON ALL DEFINITIONS) AND ALSO IN TOTAL LOANS AND ADVANCES IN HONG KONG, WHICH OFFSET FALLS RECORDED IN JULY,

THERE WAS A FLOW OF FUNDS INTO THE HONG KONG MONETARY SECTOR DURING THE MONTH, WHICH ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO THE RISE IN THE MONEY SUPPLY.

NEVERTHELESS THERE HAS BEEN A MARKED SLOWING DOWN IN THE

RATE AT WHICH THE MONEY SUPPLY HAS BEEN GROWING: THE AUGUST STATISTICS SHOW THAT IN THE LATEST THREE MONTHS, BOTH M3 (OLD SERIES) AND HK$M3 (NEW SERIES) ROSE APPRECIABLY LESS THAN IN THE PREVIOUS THREE MONTHS.

TABLE ONE SETS OUT THE DETAILED FIGURES FOR AUGUST, FROM THE ORIGINAL SERIES OF MONEY AND BANKING FIGURES, AND PROVIDES COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS MONTHS.

TABLE TWO SETS OUT SOME SELECTED FIGURES FROM THE NEW SERIES OF MONETARY STATISTICS NOW BEING COLLECTED UNDER THE MONETARY STATISTICS ORDINANCE 1980. THE NEW SERIES IS PUBLISHED EACH MONTH FROM NOW ON AND WILL REPLACE THE ORIGINAL SERIES FROM JANUARY 1982.

ALSO ATTACHED IS A NOTE OF THE DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS OF THE MONEY SUPPLY.

MONEY SUPPLY

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ORIGINAL SERIES

THE MONEY SUPPLY ON THE NARROWEST DEFINITIONS, M1, ROSE 1.7 PER CENT IN AUGUST, AFTER A FALL OF 1.8 PER CENT IN JULY, M2 ROSE BY 1.5 PER CENT IN AUGUST, FOLLOWING A FALL OF 1.4 PER CENT IN JULY.

M3 ROSE BY 3.3 PER CENT IN AUGUST, AFTER FALLING BY 3.3 PER CENT IN JULY. THE AUGUST INCREASE REFLECTED A 6.8 PER CENT RISE IN DEPOSITS WITH DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES.

IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS M1 FELL BY 4.1 PER CENT WHILE M2 ROSE BY 4.3 PER CENT, AFTER THE IR RESPECTIVE INCREASES OF 5.1 PER CENT AND 2.4 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS THREE MONTHS. IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS M3 ROSE BY 5.9 PER CENT, DOWN FROM AN INCREASE OF 7.7 PER CENT IN THE PREVIOUS THREE MONTHS.

/MONEY JUPPL.