XN000022-1996-08-30 — Page 20

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Monetary statistics for July

Both deposits and loans and advances rose during July 1996, according to statistics published today (Friday) by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Table 1 summarises figures for July and comparisons with earlier months.

Deposits

Total deposits increased by 0.8% in July, after a rise of 1,3% in June. Of the total, Hong Kong dollar deposits rose by 1.1% during the month and foreign currency deposits grew by 0.5%.

The rise in HK dollar deposits in July was attributable to increases in both HK dollar demand deposits and time deposits, which more than offset the fall in HK dollar savings deposits.

During the month, HK dollar demand deposits continued to grow rapidly by 3.2%, following an increase of 3.5% in the preceding month, while HK dollar time deposits rose by 1.5%, continuing the growth of 2.3% in June. On the other hand, HK dollar savings deposits contracted by 0.8%, having increased by 2.7% in June.

As for foreign currency deposits, both the US dollar and non-US dollar components increased. Having fallen by a total of 3% during April to June, US dollar deposits reverted to an increase of 0.3% in July. Non-US dollar foreign currency deposits were up by 0.7%, after remaining virtually unchanged in June.

Loans and advances

Total loans and advances grew by 2.2% in July, following a 0.5% increase in June. The rise reflects a further expansion in domestic credit by 1.5% and a rebound in offshore lending by 2.7% during the month.

Of the domestic credit, other loans for use in Hong Kong increased by 1.7%, partly reflecting a further strong growth in mortgage loans, as evidenced by the result of the July 1996 Residential Mortgage Survey of 33 authorised institutions, which showed that new residential mortgage loans approved grew by 9.1% during the month, leading to an increase in outstanding mortgage loans of 1.5%.

On the other hand, loans for trade financing fell by 0.5% in July and continued to decelerate in terms of annual growth. As for offshore loans, they rose strongly by 2.7%, after falling by some 2.3% in the preceding two months.

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