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	news.gov.hk
	From Hong Kong's Information Services Department

March 7, 2005

Assets

Foreign currency reserves slip US$0.8b

Hong Kong's foreign currency reserve assets slid US$0.8 billion to US$123.9 billion at the end of February, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority says.

Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets at the end of February dropped US$0.3 billion to US$123.9 billion.

Hong Kong is the world's seventh largest holder of foreign currency reserves, after Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, India and Russia.

The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$123.9 billion represent about six times the currency in circulation, or 44% of Hong Kong dollar M3.