HK Exchange Fund assets up 24.5 bln HK dollars

Hong Kong Exchange Fund's total assets amounted to 1.41 trillion HK dollars (181 billion U.S. dollars) on Nov. 30, up 24.5 billion HK dollars from October, the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong said Monday.

Foreign-currency assets rose 39.9 billion HK dollars while Hong Kong dollar assets fell 15.4 billion dollars, said the authority.

The rise in foreign-currency assets was due mainly to valuation gains on foreign-currency investments, interest and dividend income from foreign-currency assets, purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars and an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness.

The rises were partly offset by a fall in securities purchased but settled in the following month.

The fall in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to the sale of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies and valuation losses of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund, which were partly offset by placements from fiscal reserves and a rise in the banking system's balance. (One U.S. dollar = 7.791 HK dollars)