The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has taken the unprecedented step of revealing details of its investment strategy for the $461 billion Exchange Fund.
In its annual report for 1995 to be released officially today, the territory's de facto central bank voluntarily disclosed the break-down of its asset types, stripping off the long-standing mystery surrounding the management of the territory's coffers.
In line with its own call for more transparency in the financial sector, the authority showed that by end-1995, the fund had 54.4 per cent of its assets in investments, 21.77 per cent in cash and short-term funds and 16.67 per cent in fixed deposits.
The rest was in certificates of deposit, fixed assets and other assets.
Among its investments of $250.7 billion, about 93.1 per cent was in debt securities. Only 6.8 per cent, about $17 billion, was in equities.
The fund reported an investment income of $46.73 billion in 1995. About 47.8 per cent, $22.37 billion, was derived from interest income. Another 44.6 per cent, $20.89 billion, was from net investment gains.