HK deficit at $92.3b after 11 months

Staff reporter

The Hong Kong government's fiscal deficit stood at HK$92.3 billion in the 11-month period ending in February.

That was after taking into account HK$124.3 billion received from the issuance of government bonds and repayment of HK$22 billion principal on bonds, the government announced yesterday.

The fiscal reserves stood at HK$642.3 billion as of February 28, 2025.

Expenditure and revenue from April 2024 to February 2025 amounted to HK$670.3 billion and HK$475.7 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said the total assets of the Exchange Fund were HK$4.01 trillion as of February, HK$102.9 billion lower than that at the end of January.

Hong Kong dollar assets dropped by HK$76 billion and foreign currency assets declined by HK$26.9 billion.

Total deposits with authorized institutions gained 1.3 percent last month, with Hong Kong dollar deposits and foreign currency deposits up by 2.1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Yuan deposits in Hong Kong rose by 4.9 percent to 1.04 trillion yuan (HK$1.11 trillion) as of February.

In addition, the number of mortgage applications last month edged up by 0.4 percent to 6,542, the city's de-facto central bank said, with mortgage loans approved up by 4.3 percent from January to HK$26.1 billion.