Hong Kong dollar

By 1895, the circumstances had changed to the extent that there was now a dearth of Spanish/Mexican dollars and the authorities in both Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements were putting pressure on the authorities in London to take measures to have a regular supply of silver dollar coins. London eventually acquiesced and legislation was enacted in attempts to regulate the coinage. New British trade dollars were coined at the mints in Calcutta and Bombay for use in both Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements. In 1906, the Straits Settlements issued their own silver dollar coin and attached it to a gold sterling exchange standard at a fixed value of 2 shillings and 4 pence. This was the point of departure as between the Hong Kong unit and the Straits unit.

In British Weihaiwei, the Hong Kong dollar circulated jointly with the Chinese yuan from 1914 to 1930, when Weihaiwei was returned to the Republic of China.

By 1935, only Hong Kong and China remained on the silver standard. In that year, Hong Kong, shortly after China, abandoned silver and introduced a crawling peg to sterling of £1 = HK$15.36 to HK$16.45. It was from this point in time that the concept of a Hong Kong dollar as a distinct unit of currency came into existence. The One-Dollar Currency Note Ordinance of that year led to the introduction of one-dollar notes by the government and the government acknowledged the Hong Kong dollar as the local monetary unit. It was not until 1937 that the legal tender of Hong Kong was finally unified. In 1939, the Hong Kong dollar was put on a fixed peg of HK$16 = £1 ($1 = 1s 3d).

The discussion about switching from the silver standard to the gold standard began as early as 1930. A commission report was released in May 1931. It concluded that it was important for Hong Kong to facilitate free flow of capital with China and the same monetary standard was thus preferred. The report also recommended the Hong Kong Government only to take over the burden of note issuance when the banks failed to do so. Actually, the Hong Kong Government was not willing to take up the logistics of note issuance, and some officials even thought that the public had greater degree of confidence in the notes issued by those long-established banks than that by the government.[6]

During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese military yen were the only means of everyday exchange in Hong Kong. When the yen was first introduced on 26 December 1941, the exchange rate was ¥1 yen = HK$2. However, in August 1942, the rate was changed to HK$4 to ¥1 yen. The yen became the only legal tender on 1 June 1943. The issue of local currency was resumed by the Hong Kong government and the authorised local banks after liberation, with the pre-war rate of HK$16 = £1 being restored. The yen was exchanged at a rate of ¥100 = HK$1. On 6 September 1945, all military yen notes used in Japanese colonies were declared void by the Japanese Ministry of Finance.

After the end of the Second World War, Hong Kong dollar was re-pegged to sterling at a fixed rate identical to the pre-war level.[7] Meanwhile, the United Kingdom made efforts in maintaining the sterling area with countries of the British Commonwealth as well as its colonies. It imposed exchange controls on non-sterling area countries, barring them from freely converting British pounds into US dollars, but no such restriction was placed on sterling area countries. As a colony of the British Empire, Hong Kong was obliged to observe the sterling area regulations. Nevertheless, its unique geo-economic position afforded Hong Kong the ability to defy exchange controls by operating a dual system with the sterling area and a free exchange market principally with the US dollar, which was technically illegal from 1949 to 1967.[8] Hong Kong economy specialist Leo Goodstadt argues that ministers and officials in London were bound to tolerate Hong Kong's situation, given Hong Kong's extensive trade with PRC, and the long collusion between officials in Hong Kong, bankers and local business communities.[9] People's Republic of China (PRC) established by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 was in dire need for foreign currency especially after the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s for international trade with countries of non-Soviet bloc. The British sterling obtained through Hong Kong was able to finance 28% and 46% of PRC's total import from 1963 to 1967 and from 1970 to 1971 respectively.[8] Of the British sterling obtained by PRC through Hong Kong during 1953 and 1971, about 40-50% was supplied by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the de facto "central bank" in Hong Kong, which accounted for 10% of annual foreign currency needed by PRC in the period.[10]

In the 1960s, the UK found it difficult to keep the value of sterling as it was, with its role as official reserve currency even within the sterling area. In 1964, sterling was 83% of the official reserves of overseas sterling area countries, but this share had decreased to 75% in 1966 and to 65% in 1967.[11] When sterling was devalued by the UK in 1967, and Hong Kong dollar's peg to the pound resulted in a re-valuation of Hong Kong dollar from $16 to $14.5, a 10% re-valuation against the pound and 5.7% devaluation against the US dollar.[12] The unilateral devaluation sparked a circle of grievances among local business communities as well as colonial officials in Hong Kong because the official reserves and private savings in sterling were substantial from Hong Kong. In the 1950-60s, Hong Kong accumulated significant reserves in sterling with its economic growth, money supply was exponentially expanded from £140-£160 million in the late 1950s to £363 million in October 1967, equivalent to 10% of the UK's total sterling liabilities to the overseas sterling area before the devaluation.[12] Subsequently, Hong Kong and London engaged in talks about compensation and protection against further losses. Considering the potential diversification of official reserves from sterling to the US dollars by the Hong Kong government officials, London agreed to offer exchange guarantees to protect Hong Kong against potential devaluation of sterling in the future, which was the first to receive such guarantees among the sterling area countries.[13]

After the US's cessation of the convertibility between gold and the U.S. dollar in October 1971, Britain abandoned the fixed exchange rate with the U.S. dollar and extended the exchange controls also to the Sterling Area countries, which put an effective end to the Sterling Area in 1972.[11] In the same year, the Hong Kong dollar was pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of HK$5.65 = US$1. This was revised to HK$5.085 = US$1 in 1973. Since 1974, the Hong Kong dollar was no longer anchored in another currency, which officially changed the monetary regime from currency board system to a floating currency system.

On 17 October 1983, Hong Kong dollar was officially pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of HK$7.8 = US$1, officially switching back to the currency board system. The peg of Hong Kong dollar to the U.S. dollar in 1983 actually took place in the context of Sino-British negotiation regarding the future of Hong Kong after 1997. Due to the lack of public confidence in the talks, on 24 September 1983, Hong Kong dollar was devalued by 15% over 2 days to a historical low at HK$9.6 to US$1. Public panic set in and there were runs on foodstuff on this Black Saturday (1983).[14] Amidst the monetary crisis, John Greenwood, an economist who was later dubbed the "architect of the Linked Exchange Rate System" in Hong Kong,[15] advocated the proposal to peg the Hong Kong dollar to the U.S. dollar with a return to the former currency board system. The proposal received support from two government officials within the Monetary Affairs Branch of the Hong Kong Government, namely, the Deputy Secretary for Monetary Affairs Tony Latter and the Government Economist Alan McLean as a practical way to restore confidence in the Hong Kong dollar.[16] After discussions between London and Hong Kong, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong Government John Bremridge announced to peg the Hong Kong dollar with the U.S. dollar at a rate of HK$7.8 to US$1 in a currency board fashion on 17 October 1983.

When recalling the choice of rate, Tony Latter notes that a rate of HK$7.25 to HK$7.50 was considered a reasonable range in macroeconomic terms, given the rate against the U.S. dollar around HK$6.60 before the crisis and the rate around HK$8.30 to HK$8.80 when the government's intention to change monetary regime was revealed in early October. In political terms, the government did not want to set the rate too weak so as to warrant international allegations of currency manipulation for competitive advantages, or too strong a rate that would result in high interest rates and the eventual abandonment of the rate. HK$7.8 was finally selected, as the government hoped to demonstrate that the situation has been properly stabilized and it was felt that the rate below HK$8.0 can achieve this purpose psychologically.[17]

John Bremridge was once quoted saying that the rate was somewhat "a number off the air", but the most important thing was the restoration of public confidence in Hong Kong dollar with the peg amidst the crisis.[18] The solution in its current form was favored by government officials for reasons beyond monetary considerations. Financially, the currency peg was designed not to require the Bank of England to lend its reserves to maintain Hong Kong's currency peg. Politically, the currency board system well demonstrated the autonomy London has given to Hong Kong in economic policymaking amidst British negotiation with China to grant Hong Kong's higher autonomy after 1997.[19] As envisioned, the currency board monetary regime continues to function with the same pegged rate beyond the handover of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

The Basic Law of Hong Kong and the Sino-British Joint Declaration provides that Hong Kong retains full autonomy with respect to currency issuance. Currency in Hong Kong is issued by the government and three local banks (HSBC, Bank of China and Standard Chartered) under the supervision of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which was an semi-independent public body established in the early 1990s to regulate banks and manage exchange funds and serves until now the territory's de facto "central bank".[20] Banknotes are printed by Hong Kong Note Printing Limited. A bank can issue a Hong Kong dollar only if it has the equivalent exchange in US dollars on deposit. The currency board system ensures that Hong Kong's entire monetary base is backed with US dollars at the linked exchange rate. The resources for the backing are kept in Hong Kong's exchange fund, which is among the largest official reserves in the world. Hong Kong also has huge deposits of US dollars, with official foreign currency reserves of US$361 billion as of March 2016.[21]

In a speech addressing the issue of who determines the monetary policy in Hong Kong on 13 May 2002, Tony Latter, in the position of the Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), contended that the Financial Secretary together with the HKMA in the Hong Kong SAR Government were responsible for that. He acknowledged the heavy and direct influence of the Federal Reserve of the United States on Hong Kong's monetary policy under the currency peg, but argued that "It was Hong Kong's choice, and we do not require any permission from US to continue or discontinue it".[22]

As of 18 May 2005, in addition to the lower guaranteed limit, a new upper guaranteed limit was set for the Hong Kong dollar at HK$7.75 to the US dollar. The lower limit has been lowered from 7.80 to 7.85 (by 100 pips per week from 23 May to 20 June 2005).[23] The Hong Kong Monetary Authority indicated this move is to narrow the gap between the interest rates in Hong Kong and those of the United States. A further aim of allowing the Hong Kong dollar to trade in a range is to avoid the HK dollar being used as a proxy for speculative bets on a renminbi revaluation.

In Hong Kong, the following are slang terms used to refer to various amounts of money:

Some of these terms are also used by overseas Chinese to refer their local currency. A slang term in English sometimes used for the Hong Kong dollar is "Honkie".[24]

HKD/USD exchange rate since 1990

Since 1983, the linked exchange rate system is a unique type of exchange rate regime used for the Hong Kong dollar to be pegged with the United States dollar at a fixed rate of HK$7.80 = US$1. In this unique linked exchange rate system, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) authorises the three note-issuing commercial banks to freely issue new banknotes provided that they deposit an equivalent value of United States dollars with the HKMA.

In practice, in the unique linked exchange rate system, the exchange rate of HK$7.80 = US$1, is strictly controlled by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in the foreign exchange market by controlling supply and demand of Hong Kong dollars in order to influence the exchange rate being fixed. By this arrangement the HKMA guarantees to exchange United States dollar into Hong Kong dollars and vice versa, at the rate of 7.80. When the market rate is below 7.80, the banks will convert United States dollar for Hong Kong dollars from the HKMA, Hong Kong dollars supply will increase, and the market rate will climb back to 7.80. The same mechanism also works when the market rate is above 7.80, and the banks will convert Hong Kong dollars for United States dollars.

By this arrangement, the Hong Kong dollar is backed by one of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, which is over 7 times the amount of money supplied in circulation or about 48% of Hong Kong dollar M3 at the end of April 2016.[27]

Following the Internationalization of the renminbi in the late 2000s and the inclusion of the Renminbi in the special drawing rights, there has been some debates to peg the Hong Kong dollar with the Renminbi, instead of the United States dollar. Studies shows that, if the Hong Kong dollar were to be re-pegged to the Renminbi, it would need over 2 trillion Renminbi worth of assets to replace the HKMA's US$340 billion in foreign reserves as of 2015, which exceeds the amount of existing Renminbi assets in Hong Kong's offshore market. Moreover, according to figures from the HKMA as of the end of 2014, Renminbi deposits and certificates of deposits stood at 1.158 trillion Renminbi, while outstanding Renminbi bonds amounted to 381 billion and Renminbi-denominated loans stood at 188 billion.[28] Other studies shows, while the Hong Kong's financial and economic links are increasingly dominated by mainland China, and previous concerns about the monetary openness of China's capital account are slowly receding, if China continues to open its capital account, the peg could shift from United States dollar to renminbi.[29]

However, in January 2016, the volatility in the Renminbi and China's financial markets expanded to Hong Kong's markets and its currency. Renminbi offshore overnight borrowing rate, CNH HIBOR, soared to 66.8% on 12 January after People's Bank of China – China's central bank (PBOC) intervened in the effort of squeezing out Renminbi short speculations by tightening liquidity at Hong Kong commercial banks. The PBOC's move at the offshore market, coupled with another plunge in Chinese stocks, has led to investors’ fears that the Hong Kong Dollar may be de-pegged from the US Dollar in the foreseeable future. In response to the market speculation, Hong Kong Monetary Authority said on 27 January that the regulator will protect Hong Kong dollar's linked exchange rate regime. As Hong Kong's financial markets are highly impacted by mainland China, the Renminbi exchange rate as well as China's equity market remain in a state of high volatility and continues to weigh on Hong Kong markets and the Hong Kong dollar. However the greater influence remains the US Federal Reserve as whenever it raises interest rates and sends the US Dollar higher, the linked Hong Kong Dollar would become more expensive than un-pegged currencies including the Chinese Yuan.[30]