The Exchange Fund's total assets rose $21.2 billion or 2% to $1.111 trillion in April, the Monetary Authority says.

Both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets were up by $10.7 billion and $10.5 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuation gains and investment income, while the increase in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly caused by placements received from fiscal reserves and the valuation of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund, which were partly offset by a fall in bank borrowings.

The Currency Board Account shows the monetary base at the end of April was $288.7 billion, up 2.3 billion, or 0.8%, on the end of March. The rise was due mainly to an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness.

Backing assets rose by $2.3 billion, or 0.7%, to $322.1 billion. The rise was attributable mainly to the issuance of certificates of indebtedness in the monetary base together with interest from investments, which were partly offset by valuation losses.

At the end of April, the backing ratio stood at 111.55%, compared with 111.65% at the end of March .