Economics
Hong Kong Plows $1.7 Billion Into Defending Currency to Little Effect
- Local dollar stuck at HK$7.85 despite HKMA intervention
- One-year interest rate swaps spike the most since Dec. 2016
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The Hong Kong dollar remains stuck at the weak end of its currency band, even after the monetary authority plowed $1.7 billion into defending the peg.
The city’s dollar traded at HK$7.8499 per greenback at 5:31 p.m. local time, near the level that can spur buying by the de facto central bank. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has spent HK$13.3 billion ($1.7 billion) mopping up local dollars since the weak end of the band was reached on Thursday for the first time since 2005. The speed of intervention shows outflows are bigger than people had thought, according to China Everbright Bank Co.