Total deposits with authorised institutions grew for the third consecutive month in February, by 1.2%, the Monetary Authority said.

Hong Kong dollar deposits rose by 1.8% and foreign currency deposits  rose 0.4%.

Total loans and advances grew 1.9% in February. Loans for use in Hong Kong rose 1.9%, while those for outside Hong Kong went up 1.6%.

Analysed by currency, Hong Kong dollar and foreign currency loans both soared.  As Hong Kong dollar loans registered a larger rise than Hong Kong dollar deposits, the loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 82.7%.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 grew by 1.7% during the month and by 41.2% from a year ago.

Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 rose by 1.3% and 1.4% respectively during the month, and by 11.3% and 11.1% on a year-on-year comparison.