HK's Gross Foreign Exchange Assets Hit HK$ 98.54 billion

Hong Kong Finance Management Bureau declared Friday that by the end of March 2000, the total capital of Hong Kong's foreign currency had reached HK$ 98.54 billion, registering a slight rise over the HK$ 98.498 billion in late February, of which, foreign currency capital increased by HK$ 12.7 billion while HK currency capital decreased by HK$ 12.64 billion.

The increase of foreign currency assets partially results from the influence of re-evaluation on foreign investment. The decrease of Hong Kong currency capital mainly results from a fall in the deposit of other government fund. Due to a rise in the market value of Hong Kong stocks held by the foreign exchange fund,, the related rate of fall has all been offset.

Statistics from Hong Kong Currency Issuance Bureau show that the base value of currency at the end of this March was HK$ 208.2 billion, down HK$ 2.9 billion from that of late February, with a decrease rate of 1.38 percent. The reduction in the base currency value is mainly due to a drop of HK$ 3.7 billion in debt certificates. The issuance and market value of foreign exchange bills and bonds increased respectively by HK$ 0.6 billion and HK$ 0.2 billion, thus partially offsetting the relative rate of reduction.กกกก

Supporting assets of March dropped HK$ 2.2 billion, or 0.93 percent, from HK$ 235.3 billion to HK$ 233.1 billion. The main reason is the cutting down of debt certificates. However, related decreases have been partially offset by recording a net income of HK$ 1.5 billion and benefits from re-evaluation. As a result, the supporting ratio rose from 111.48 percent in late February to 111.98 percent in late March.



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