(2 June 2016 – Hong Kong) According to statistics published this week by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), total deposits with authorised institutions increased by 0.3 percent in April.
As the increase in savings and time deposits exceeded the decrease in demand deposits, Hong Kong-dollar deposits grew by 0.5 percent during the month.
The central bank said overall foreign-currency deposits rose up by just 0.2 percent in April. In the same period, Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong declined by 4.8 percent to RMB723.0 billion (A$151 billion).
The total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement amounted to RMB358.1 billion in April, compared with RMB370.7 billion a month prior.
For the month of April, HKMA added that loans and advances picked up by 0.3 percent. Among the total, loans for use in Hong Kong (including trade finance) increased by 0.6 percent while loans for use outside Hong Kong decreased by 0.5 percent from a month ago.
As Hong Kong-dollar loans declined while Hong Kong-dollar deposits increased, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio went down to 77.6 percent at the end of April from 78.2 percent at the end of March.