The Exchange Fund's total assets fell 8.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 1.06 billion U.S. dollars) to 1.103 trillion Hong Kong dollars (about 142.32 billion U.S. dollars) in May, Hong Kong Monetary Authority said Friday.

The Monetary Authority said both foreign currency assets and Hong Kong dollar assets fell by 5.2 billion Hong Kong dollars ( about 670.97 million U.S. dollars) and 3 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 387.10 million U.S. dollars).

The fall in foreign currency assets was due mainly to valuations of foreign currency investments and redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness, which were partly offset by interest and dividend income from foreign currency assets.

The decrease in Hong Kong dollar assets was due mainly to fiscal drawdowns and valuation of Hong Kong equities held by the Exchange Fund, which were partly offset by an increase in Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued but not yet settled.

The Currency Board Account shows the Monetary Base at the end of May 2006 was 287.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 37.10 billion U.S. dollars), a decrease of 1.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 154.84 million U.S. dollars), or 0.4 percent, from the end of April. The fall was due mainly to a decrease in Certificates of Indebtedness.

The Backing Assets fell by 600 million Hong Kong dollars (about 77.42 million U.S. dollars), or 0.2 percent, to 321.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 41.48 billion U.S. dollars). The decrease was attributable mainly to the redemption of Certificates of Indebtedness in the Monetary Base together with the valuation of investments, which were partly offset by interest from investments.

Source: Xinhua