Total deposits with authorised institutions fell 2.6% in December, mainly reflecting the high base of comparison in November, the Monetary Authority says.

Hong Kong dollar deposits fell 6.1% while foreign currency deposits rose 1.9%. Renminbi deposits remained stable at RMB22.7 billion, representing about 1% of foreign currency deposits.

Total loans and advances fell 7.8%, with Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency loans down 8.9% and 3.8%. Loans for use in Hong Kong shrank 9.1% while loans for use outside Hong Kong grew 1.5%. Since the Hong Kong dollar loans decreased at a faster pace than Hong Kong dollar deposits, the Hong Kong dollar loan-to-deposit ratio declined further, reaching 74.7% in December.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 dipped 0.7% in December but rose 11.6% from a year earlier. Both unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 fell 5.6% but grew 19.2% on a year-on-year comparison.