Financial Capsule

Hong Kong - the World’s Seventh Largest Holder of Foreign Currency Reserves 

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$122.4 billion at the end of May 2005. In terms of foreign currency reserves ranking, Hong Kong is the world’s seventh largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Russia and India.


HKIA: Airport of the Year for the Fifth Consecutive Year

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has again been named the world’s best airport, according to the survey results of Skytrax, an independent aviation research institution in the United Kingdom. This follows another accolade that HKIA has received in about three weeks'  time from AETRA, an authoritative survey jointly run by the airline and airport organizations worldwide.Skytrax's 2005 World Airport Awards Survey was conducted globally from June 2004 to March 2005, attracting more than 5.5 million respondents of over 90 nationalities. HKIA has been voted the world’s best among 150 airports worldwide for the fifth consecutive year.


Unemployment and Underemployment Decrease 

According to the latest labour force statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 5.9% in February - April 2005 to 5.7% (provisional figure) in March - May 2005. This was the lowest level recorded since August - October 2001. The underemployment rate held stable at 3.0% in both periods (provisional figure for March - May 2005).

Comparing March - May 2005 with February - April 2005, decreases in the unemployment rate were mainly observed in the construction, manufacturing and business services sectors. 

A Government spokesman noted that in tandem with continued revival in the local economy, total employment rose to a record high of around 3.36 million in March - May 2005, while the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell further to 5.7%, a 43-month low. The overall labour market sentiment remained generally buoyant.


Total Exports and Imports Show Strong Increases

In May 2005, the values of Hong Kong's total exports and imports of goods both showed strong year-on-year increases.

In May 2005, the value of total exports of goods (comprising re-exports and domestic exports) increased by 16.9% over a year earlier to HK$193.4 billion, after a year-on-year increase of 7.8% in April. Within this total, the value of re-exports increased by 18% to HK$183.5 billion (C$29.6 billion) in May, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 0.5% to HK$9.9 billion (C$1.6 billion). Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 16% over a year earlier to HK$202.7 billion (C$32.7 billion) in May 2005, after a year-on-year increase of 3.8% in April. A visible trade deficit of HK$9.3 billion (C$1.5 billion), equivalent to 4.6% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in May 2005.

For the first five months of 2005 as a whole, the value of total exports of goods rose by 11.4% over the same period in 2004. Within this total, the value of re-exports increased by 12.5%, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 6.1%. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 8.8%. A visible trade deficit of HK$44.5 billion (C$7.2 billion), equivalent to 5% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first five months of 2005. 

A government spokesman noted that the growth in merchandise exports accelerated notably further in May. The strong growth occurred virtually across-the-board among all the major markets, including the Mainland, Japan, the European Union and the United States. Compared with the three-month period ended February, the value of total exports of goods reverted to increase on a seasonally adjusted basis in the three-month period ended May. This suggested that the export growth had regained some momentum. 

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