December saw total deposits with authorised financial institutions rise 1.5%, the Monetary Authority says. Hong Kong dollar deposits rose by 0.6% and foreign currency deposits by 2.6%.

Renminbi deposits grew 0.4% to 22.6 billion yuan.

Total loans and advances grew 0.1% in December, as a rise of 0.2% in loans for use in Hong Kong was partly offset by a fall of 0.5% in loans for use outside Hong Kong.

Analysed by currency, Hong Kong dollar loans rose while foreign currency loans fell. As Hong Kong dollar deposits rose more than Hong Kong dollar loans, the loan-to-deposit ratio fell to 84.3%.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Hong Kong dollar M1 fell by 3.1% in December and by 15.1% from a year earlier. Unadjusted Hong Kong dollar M2 and M3 both rose 0.6% during the month, and 5.5% and 5.7% respectively from a year earlier.