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The Exchange Fund's total assets amounted to $1.462 trillion at the end of February, up $10.9 billion on January, the Monetary Authority says.
Foreign currency assets rose by $5.8 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets grew by $5.1 billion.
The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuation gains on foreign currency investments, interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets and purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars, which were partly offset by redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness.
The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to valuation gains on Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund and placements received from fiscal reserves, which were partly offset by the sale of Hong Kong dollars for foreign currencies.
The Monetary Base at the end of February was $331.3 billion, down by $7.1 billion or 2.1%. The fall was due mainly to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness.
Backing Assets fell $5.8 billion or 1.6% to $364.1 billion. The drop was attributable mainly to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base, which was partly offset by revaluation gains and interest from investments. Reflecting this, the backing ratio rose to 109.88%.
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