Loans up 3.6% in Q1 amidst intensified construction activities

On a monthly basis, loans for use also inched up 1.2% in March.

Loans for use in Hong Kong rose 3.6% QoQ in Q1 from 2.8% in Q4, according to statistics released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The growth was thanks to increased borrowing for building, construction, property development and investment as the government and private sector ramp up building activities to plug the city’s perennial housing woes.

Also read: Land shortage exceeds government estimate of 1,200 hectares

On a monthly basis, total loans for use in Hong Kong rose 1.2% whilst loans for outside the city inched up 0.7%. The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio also jumped from 81.4% in February to 83.2% at the end of March.

Also read: Will the looming property slowdown set back Hong Kong banks? 

Total deposits with authorised institutions dipped 0.4% in March which led to a 0.5% decline in dollar-deposits. Overall foreign-currency deposits also edged down by 0.3% in March. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong increased by 0.7% to $87.21b (RMB554.3b) at the end of March with the total remittance of renminbi for cross-border trade settlement clocking in at $52.8b (RMB335.6b) over the same period.