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/ BANKING TODAY / JULY- AUGUST 2020
Hong Kong Dollar— The Most Stable and the Most Trustworthy
Currency in the World
港元─世界上最穩定 且值得信賴的貨幣
Introduced in 1983, the Linked Exchange Rate System (LERS) has helped Hong Kong to maintain a stable exchange rate, which has held steady in the face of a number of financial crises. The HKD is one of the few currencies in the world that has a constitutional basis, a key reason for Hong Kong becoming one of the world’s biggest currency trading and international financial centres.
於1983年推出的聯繫匯率制度(LERS)過去一直幫助香港維持匯率穩定， 並令香港渡過許多次金融危機。港元是世界上少數具憲法基礎的貨幣之一， 這是香港成為全球最大貨幣交易與國際金融中心之一的關鍵原因。
In the July – August 2018 issue of Banking Today, the Publications Sub-Committee of The Hong Kong Institute of Banking (HKIB) published an article about the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) being the most stable currency in the world. Experience in the last few months suggests that in addition to being the most stable, the HKD
is also one of the most trustworthy currencies in the world.
So how can these claims be substantiated? March and April this year were characterised by intense
volatility in the global financial markets. This volatility was caused by three unprecedented factors, with each factor creating a sharp reaction and a series of consequences. First was the outbreak of what would become the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which has caused a world-wide recession. Second, in early March, a sharp reduction in interest rates of 150 bps was announced by the US Federal Reserve (FED). Third, in April came a sharp drop in oil prices, which for the first time ever saw the price of oil drop by USD40 per barrel.
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