Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm The Board of Directors of Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund: We have examined managements assertion, included in the accompanying Management Statement Regarding Compliance with Certain Provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, that Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund (the Fund) complied with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Rule 17f-2 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as of December 31, 2015, and from April 30, 2015 (the date of the Funds last examination) through December 31, 2015, with respect to securities reflected in the investment accounts of the Fund. Management is responsible for the Funds compliance with those requirements. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on managements assertion about the Funds compliance based on our examination. Our examination was conducted in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) and, accordingly, included examining, on a test basis, evidence about the Funds compliance with those requirements and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. Included among our procedures were the following tests performed as of December 31, 2015, and with respect to agreement of security purchases and sales, for the period from April 30, 2015 (the date of the Funds last examination) through December 31, 2015: 1. Obtained The Bank of New York Mellons (the Custodian) security position reconciliations for all securities held by sub custodians and in book entry form and verified that reconciling items were cleared in a timely manner; 2. Confirmation with the Custodian of all securities held, hypothecated, pledged or placed in escrow or out for transfer with brokers or pledgees; 3. Reconciliation of the Funds securities to the books and records of the Fund and the Custodian; 4. Confirmation of all repurchase agreements with broker and agreement of underlying collateral with the Custodian records, if any; 5. Agreement of pending purchase activity for the Fund as of December 31, 2015 to documentation of corresponding subsequent bank statements; 6. Agreement of pending sale activity for the Fund as of December 31, 2015 to documentation of corresponding subsequent bank statements; 7. Agreement of five security purchases and five security sales or maturities, or all purchases, sales or maturities, if fewer than five occurred from the period April 30, 2015 through December 31, 2015, from the books and records of the Fund to corresponding bank statements; 8. Review of the BNY Mellon Asset Servicing Custody and Securities Lending Services Service Organization Control Report (SOC 1 Report) for the period January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 and noted no relevant findings were reported in the areas of Asset Custody and Control; We believe that our examination provides a reasonable basis for our opinion. Our examination does not provide a legal determination on the Funds compliance with specified requirements. In our opinion, management's assertion that the Fund complied with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Rule 17f-2 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 as of December 31, 2015, and from April 30, 2015 through December 31, 2015, with respect to securities reflected in the investment accounts of the Fund is fairly stated, in all material respects. This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and The Board of Directors of Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund, and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties. /s/ KPMG LLP New York, New York January 31, 2017 January 31, 2017 Management Statement Regarding Compliance With Certain Provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940 We, as members of management of Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund (the Fund), are responsible for complying with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Rule 17f-2, Custody of Investments by Registered Management Investment Companies, of the Investment Company Act of 1940. We are also responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal controls over compliance with those requirements. We have performed an evaluation of the Funds compliance with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Rule 17f-2 as of December 31, 2015 and from April 30, 2015 through December 31, 2015. Based on the evaluation, we assert that the Fund was in compliance with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Rule 17f-2 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 as of December 31, 2015, and from April 30, 2015 through December 31, 2015 with respect to securities reflected in the investment accounts of the Fund. Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund Jim Windels Treasurer 2