HK's Assets of Exchange Fund Shrink SlightlyThe Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced Monday that the total assets of the Exchange Fund had amounted to 1,024.1 billion HK dollars (131.3 billion US dollars) as of July 31, 2001, 0.36 percent less than a month ago.The figure is included in the Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet, which is released on a monthly basis together with the Currency Board Account. Foreign currency assets increased by 2.2 billion HK dollars (282 million dollars) while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by 5. 9 billion HK dollars (756 million dollars). The increase in foreign currency assets was mainly due to income from foreign currency assets and valuation gains on foreign currency investments, which were partly offset by a decrease in the amount of repurchase agreements outstanding. The decrease in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to the decrease in market value of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund and the reductions in placements by other government funds, which were partly offset by an increase in bank borrowings. |
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