Corporate Information
 
Company Profile
Investor Communication
Corporate Governance
Mission Statement
News Releases
Career Opportunities
Economic Research
Milestones
Home > Corporate Information > Economic Research > Economic Indicators > April, 2000

April, 2000

BANKING
Amount

% change, yoy, unless otherwise stated

($bn)

Monthly

Quarterly

Yearly

       2/00

  2/00

  1/00

Q4/99

Q3/99 Q2/99 Q1/99

1999

1998

1997

HKD M0 (in HKD) 94.7 5.1 25.7 22.6 9.9 16.9 5.3 22.6 0.7 5.3
HKD M1 (in HKD) 219.9 22.8 22.6 15.2 10.5 7.0 (2.0) 15.2 (5.2) (5.1)
HKD M2 (in HKD) 1,883.2 4.5 5.4 5.3 4.8 9.8 8.5 5.3 9.9 9.9
HKD M3 (in HKD) 1,895.2 4.5 5.4 5.3 4.8 9.5 8.2 5.3 9.4 9.9
Spread (Prime-Hibor3) (pa) (%) na 2.76 2.82 2.35

2.22

3.09

2.97

2.66

1.86

1.71

Res. mortg. loans outstanding
(before adjusted to reclassification) na 3.2 3.6 4.0 6.58 8.2 7.9 4.0 9.6 28.3
(after adjusted to reclassification) 478.1

na

na na

na

na

na

na

na

na

Loans-to-Deposits Ratio (pa) (%)
(Total) na 86.0 87.5 89.9 93.8 98.5 106.6 97.2 128.8 158.1
(HKD) na 93.4 92.3 92.4 94.9 96.3 100.5 96.0 107.9 110.3
Foreign Currency Reserves^ (in US$bn) 93.1 93.1 94.3 96.3 90.4 88.6 89.5 96.3 89.6 93.2
Deposits 3,170.7 7.9 6.9 7.6 7.7 10.5 8.8 7.6 10.9 8.4
HKD Deposits @ 1,735.7 4.5 4.7 4.5 4.3 9.6 8.1 4.5 9.7 9.8
FC Deposits # 1,435.0 12.3 9.6 11.6 12.1 11.6 9.7 11.6 12.6 6.6
Loans & Advances 2,727.7 (13.4) (14.5) (14.8) (14.9) (19.6) (18.1) (14.8) (19.8) 5.3
Loans in HKD 1,621.9 (3.5) (4.4) (5.1) (5.6) (6.1) (3.6) (5.1) (2.7) 20.4
Loans in FC 1,105.8 (24.7) (25.6) (25.1) (24.5) (32.1) (30.7) (25.1) (32.3) (3.6)
Loans for use in HK1 1,932.0 (6.9) (7.9) (8.2) (9.5) (10.1) (6.9) (8.2) (5.5) 22.6
Loans for use outside HK2 795.7 (25.9) (26.7) (26.5) (24.6) (34.6) (34.3) (26.5) (36.7) (9.8)
Loans for use in HK (eop) na na na (8.2) (9.5) (10.1) (6.9) (8.2) (5.5) 22.6
To purchase residential properties na na na 3.3 5.5 6.4 5.7 3.3 9.0 28.5
Property Development & Investment na na na (7.9) (11.4) (13.0) (7.0) (7.9) (5.5) 33.4
Trade Finances1 na na na (23.5) (26.0) (28.2) (24.6) (23.5) (22.7) 4.2
Financial Concerns na na na (18.7) (21.4) (24.8) (19.2) (18.7) (10.9) 26.2
Wholesale & Retail Trade na na na (19.7) (18.6) (19.3) (13.5) (19.7) (12.7) 16.5
Manufacturing na na na (15.3) (17.8) (19.3) (15.1) (15.3)
(14.4) 2.7
Credit Card na na na 7.2 7.5 7.3 11.9 7.2 14.0 29.0
Consumer Finance ¡± na na na (8.3) (12.5) (16.7) (13.9) (8.3) (11.9) 16.6
PRIVATE CONSUMPTION

% change, yoy, unless otherwise stated

Amount

Monthly

Quarterly

Yearly

1/00

1/00

12/99

Q4/99

Q3/99

Q2/99

Q1/99

1999

1998

1997

Retail Sales (Value)

$17.6bn

11.7 (1.5) (3.0) (7.2) (8.0) (13.0) (7.8) (16.8) 4.9
(Volume)

na

19.7 5.8 4.7 1.7 (1.8) (9.4) (1.2) (16.8) 1.1
Restaurant Receipts (Value)

$14.7bn(99Q4)

na

na

2.4 2.0 (0.1) (2.2) 0.5 (3.9) 6.0
(Volume)

na

na

na

4.0 3.7 1.3 (0.9) 2.0 (6.2) 2.0
Department Store (Value)

na

14.4 4.0 3.7 (14.3) (15.4) (17.5) (10.9) (26.5) (3.2)
(Volume)

na

24.1 13.3 16.7 (0.8) (1.5) (8.5) 1.5 (27.0) (9.3)
Visitors Arrivals

0.99mn

19.8 3.8 12.7 10.9 9.5 11.1 11.1 (8.0) (11.1)
PROPERTY

% change, yoy, unless otherwise stated

Amount

Monthly

Quarterly

Yearly

2/00

2/00

1/00

Q4/99

Q3/99

Q2/99

Q1/99

1999

1998

1997

Sales & purchase agreements
Value

$15.9bn

(18.4)

(16.3)

(44.9)

1.9

(19.6)

(18.4)

(20.3)

(54.3)

83.0

Number

5,698

(31.9)

(25.9)

(46.9)

14.1

4.1

10.9

(4.5)

(50.2)

39.0

New res. mortg. approved of 33 AIs
Number, during the period

7,076

34.4

39.4

12.3

24.2

55.2

26.3

29.5

(34.9)

18.5

Value per loan, during the period

$1.45mn

(4.0)

0

(2.0)

(2.2)

(7.9)

(27.8)

(10.0)

(12.0)

27.2

Private residential
     Rental (official)

na

na

na

na

(5.9)

(14.8)

(17.9)

na

(16.5)

13.5

     Price (official)

na

na

(3.5)

1.5

3.9

(18.4)

(26.0)

(9.8)

(52.9)

40.9

          HK

$4,072/sf

(1.6)

(2.1)

0.1

2.9

(13.4)

(25.5)

(9.0)

(29.4)

na

          KL

$3,649/sf

(3.0)

1.0

(2.6)

3.7

(10.9)

(25.3)

(8.8)

(31.9)

na

          NT

$3,018/sf

(4.7)

(5.0)

(1.8)

4.9

(8.5)

(21.5)

(6.7)

(32.2)

na

Rental yield (%) :          
HK

na

4.14

4.23

4.22 4.14 4.04 4.23 4.16 4.1 3.7
KL

na

4.83

4.69

4.77

4.70

4.42

4.49

4.60

4.5

3.9

NT

na

3.87

3.88

4.01

3.87

3.72

3.71

3.83

3.6

3.1

Residential construction completed (sq.m.), ytd

1,145.1thou.
Nov

70.4
Nov

58.4
Oct

na

37.8

32.1

7.7

na

22.9

(7.0)

Residential construction consent to start work (sq.m.), ytd

1,631.0thou.
Nov

32.8
Nov

23.4
Oct

na

(0.1)

7.6

79.7

na

(9.7)

54.0

MACRO INDICATORS

Amount

% change, yoy unless otherwise stated

($bn)

Monthly

Quarterly

Yearly

2/00

2/00

1/00

Q4/99

Q3/99

Q2/99

Q1/99

1999

1998

1997

GDP

na

na

na

8.7

4.4

1.1

(3.0)

2.9

(5.1)

5.0

Composite CPI

na

(5.1)

(5.3)

(4.1)

(5.9)

(4.0)

(1.8)

(4.0)

2.8

5.8

Labour
Unemployment Rate (%)

na

5.7

5.7

6.1 6.1 6.2 6.0 6.1

4.7

2.2

Unemployed ('000 people)

na

201.0

204.1

223.7

220.3

214.4

207.6

216.5

157.6

71.3

External Trade (Nominal)
Total Exports 95.2 20.3 14.1 10.1 4.3 (5.9) (9.0) 0.1 (7.4) 4.2
  Domestic Exports 11.8 13.6 8.8 (0.5) (9.7) (15.3) (12.2) (9.5) (10.9) (0.4)

       Re-exports

83.3 21.3 14.9 11.8 6.8 (4.3) (8.5) 1.7 (6.9) 5.0
Total Imports 102.1 27.2 16.4 11.1 4.4 (11.3) (13.8) (2.5) (11.5) 5.2
Trade Balance (in $bn) (6.9) (6.9) (3.2) (12.2) (6.4) (12.2) (12.9) (43.7) (81.4) (159.1)

FORECAST of GDP IN REAL TERM & CPI

2000F (Gov)

2000F (BEA)

1999

1998

1997

GDP

5.0

5.4

2.9

(5.1)

5.0

Private Consumption

2.5

3.4

1.1

(6.7)

6.2

Government

2.5

4.0

3.5

0.6

2.4

Capital Formation

5.6

6.5

(17.6)

(6.4)

12.7

Domestic Exports

(4.0)

2.0

(7.2)

(7.9)

2.1

Re-exports

10.0

11.0

5.4

(3.7)

6.8

Total Exports

8.2

9.9

3.7

(4.3)

6.1

Imports of Goods

8.9

10.7

0.1

(7.2)

7.2

Visible Trade (HK$ billion)

($44.9)

($48.0)

($33.1)

($80.3)

($129.6)

Exports of Services

8.0

7.0

5.5

(6.6)

(0.1)

Imports of Services

5.0

4.0

(0.9)

(0.6)

4.0

Invisible Trade (HK$ billion)

$89.6

$88.8

$79.2

$66.8

$80.5

CPI (Composite)

(1.0)

(2.4)

(4.0)

2.9

5.8

Unit: percentage

 

^ Foreign Currency Reserves in Land Fund are not included before June 30, 1997.

Consumer finance included individual private and business loans other than property purchases & credit card advance.

1 Loans to finance merchandising trade not touching HK would be included in trade finance & loans for use in HK.

2 Others loans where the place of use is not known would be included in loans for use outside HK.

pa: Period averages @ adjusted to include swap deposits
# adjusted to exclude swap deposits eop: End-of-period
na: Not applicable e: Estimate

This material is prepared by the Economic Research Department. Data on Hong Kong are obtained from the Census and Statistics Department & the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. It is based upon information which we consider reliable. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

KEY INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INDICATORS
(Update: 14th April, 2000)
Country Unemployment
Rate
Inflation
Rate
Real GNP/GDP
Growth Rate
Trade Balance
(US$ bn)
Money Supply
(narrow)
Prime Lending
Rate
US

4.1% (Mar.)

3.2% (Feb.)

4.6% (Q4)

-34.74 (Jan.)

1.0% (Feb.)

9.0%

UK

5.9% (Jan.)

2.3% (Feb.)

3.0% (Q4)

-4.43 (Jan.)

8.5% (Feb.)

6.0%

Euro-11

9.5% (Feb.)

2.0% (Feb.)

3.1% (Q4)

-3.85 (Jan.)

10.4% (Feb.)

3.9%

Japan

4.9% (Feb.)

-0.6% (Feb.)

0.9% (Q3)

12.39 (Jan.)

12.3% (Feb.)

1.375%

Australia

6.9% (Mar.)

1.8% (Q4)

4.3% (Q4)

-0.57 (Feb.)

8.3% (Feb.)

8.75%

Canada

6.8% (Mar.)

2.7% (Feb.)

4.7% (Q4)

3.13 (Jan.)

13.7% (Feb.)

7.0%

China

3.1%*

0.7% (Feb.)

6.0% (Q4)

1.4 (Feb.)

15.3% (Feb.)

5.85%**

Hong Kong

5.7%
(Dec.-Feb.)

-5.1% (Feb.)

8.7% (Q4)

-0.88 (Feb.)

22.8% (Feb.)

9.0%

* Official figure, end of 1998
** One-year lending rate