The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

Hong Kong’s Foreign Currency Reserves at US$182.5 Billion

For more information, please contact:
Melissa Ng /David Hsieh at 212-752-3320
Daniel McAtee at 202-238-6360
Wing Yan Tong at 415-835-9315

January 7, 2009 - Hong Kong’s foreign currency reserves stood at US$182.5 billion at the end of December 2008, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, compared to US$165.9 billion at end-November 2008.

The US$16.6 billion increase in settled foreign currency assets in the month of December was due mainly to the purchase of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars.

Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of December 2008 stood at US$184.8 billion, compared to US$166 billion at end-November 2008.

Hong Kong is the world’s eighth largest holder of foreign currency reserves based on the latest published figures, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, India, Brazil and Korea.

The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$182.5 billion represent about eight times the currency in circulation or 44% of Hong Kong dollar M3.