HK's Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Up in JanuaryThe official foreign currency reserve assets of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region amounted to 111.5 billion U.S. dollars at the end of January 2001, up 4 billion dollars from the previous month, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Wednesday.Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of January 2001 also stood at 111.5 billion. According to an HKMA spokesperson, the 4 billion dollar increase in settled foreign currency assets in the month of January was mainly due to increases in the amounts of repurchase agreements and currency notes outstanding at the end of the month. In terms of foreign currency reserves ranking, Hong Kong is the world's third largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Japan and the Chinese Mainland. The total foreign currency reserve assets of 111.5 billion dollars represent over seven times the currency in circulation or about 43 percent of Hong Kong dollar M3, one of the highest ratios in the world. |
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