HONG KONG, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's official foreign-currency reserve assets rose to 159.9 billion U.S. dollars in January, the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong revealed Monday.

    Including unsettled forward contracts, Hong Kong's official foreign-currency reserve assets stood at 159.9 billion U.S. dollars in January, up 7.2 billion U.S. dollars from the previous month.

    The increase was mainly due to the purchase of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars and an increase in Certificates of Indebtedness, which reflected the seasonal demand for banknotes around the Chinese Lunar New Year.

    The total foreign-currency reserve assets of 159.9 billion U.S. dollars represent more than seven times the currency in circulation, about 38 percent of Hong Kong dollar M3.

    Hong Kong is the world's ninth largest holder of foreign-currency reserves after the Chinese mainland, Japan, Russia, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil and Singapore.