Hong Kong's official foreign currency reserve assets amounted to US$182.5 billion at the end of December in 2008, Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced on Wednesday.

The US$16.6 billion increase in settled foreign currency assets from November of 2008 was mainly due to the purchase of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars, the authority said.

Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets at the end of December 2008 stood at US$184.8 billion, up from US$166 billion in November, 2008.

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

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

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2009)