The Exchange Fund's total assets amounted to $2.038 trillion on October 31, up $80 billion on September, the Monetary Authority says. Foreign currency assets rose $75.3 billion and Hong Kong dollar assets grew $4.7 billion.

The rise in foreign currency assets was due mainly to purchases of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars, which was partly offset by a decrease in securities purchased but settled in the following month. The rise in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to valuation gain on Hong Kong equities.

The Monetary Base at the end of October was $891.4 billion, up $87.8 billion, or 10.9%, on September. The rise was due mainly to an inflow of funds into the Hong Kong dollar.

The Backing Assets rose $87.9 billion, or 10.3%, to $937.9 billion. The increase was attributable mainly to the rise in the Monetary Base together with interest from investments. These increases were partly offset by revaluation losses. The backing ratio dropped from 105.77% in September to 105.21% in October.