THE new Monetary Authority, which is commanding big start-up costs and substantial salary increases for senior executives, will not open its books to public scrutiny. Mr Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, who will head the authority, said the initial budget - as well as certain details of subsequent spending and revenue - would likely be kept under wraps indefinitely. But budget parameters would be published once they were tested and proven, he said. The Government has promised to publish annual reports of the Monetary Authority, but it is unclear how much information they will contain. ''I can't tell how much of the [budgetary] numbers will be revealed in annual reports. We can't decide now,'' said Mr Yam. ''We don't mind disclosing [information], but it's clearly not desirable if the move undermines our intended [financial] autonomy.'' The fledgling watchdog will be the territory's de facto central bank. Although funding for the authority will be contained in the Government's budget, it will not be made public in order to give it greater spending flexibility and enable the body to pay salaries equal to those in the private sector. Most employees will be civil servants from the Exchange Fund Office and Banking Commission, which will be merged to form the new body. The special funding arrangement - revealed in October - has rarely been challenged, but the authority's budget and financial situation was expected to be published promptly for accountability. Mr Yam defended the secretive approach, saying pre-mature disclosure would subject the authority to unnecessary political pressure. He stressed, however, that his office would disclose as much budget information as possible - similar to the voluntary publication of the Exchange Fund account last year. But the new body will be accountable to the Financial Secretary, who will scrutinise its operation along with the planned Monetary Authority Advisory Committee. See Money 3