Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, amounted to $838.2 billion at the end of April, a fall of $7.5 billion compared with the previous month.

The Monetary Authority said today the Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government-issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the Aggregate Balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to $251.8 billion.

Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to $54.8 billion. Foreign liabilities, representing mainly obligations under repurchase agreements, amounted to $5.6 billion.