Hong Kong's total deposits gain slightly in November

HONG KONG, Dec. 31 (Chinese media) -- Hong Kong's total deposits with authorized institutions rose 1.6 percent in November, while Hong Kong-dollar deposits edged up 0.2 percent as the rise in savings deposits exceeded the decline in demand and time deposits, revealed the Monetary Authority here Wednesday.

Foreign-currency deposits rose 3.1 percent but those deposits in Chinese yuan in Hong Kong fell 6.3 percent to 61.9 billion yuan(about 9 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of November.

Total loans and advances shrank 1.1 percent, Those loans for use in Hong Kong dropped 1 percent and loans for use outside Hong Kong fell 1.8 percent. Because loans contracted but deposits grew, the Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio declined to 80.7 percent at the end of November.

Seasonally-adjusted Hong Kong-dollar M1 increased 1.6 percent in November and rose 11.2 percent from the same period of last year. Unadjusted Hong Kong-dollar M3 rose 0.1 percent during the month but fell 11.9 percent year on year.