Page 9 - BT Sample

The second wave began on 4 June and is still continuing. The running total at the time of writing (29 July 2020) is USD11.5 billion bought
by HKMA with HKD88.7 billion injected into the Hong Kong banking system. According to the LERS the HKMA undertakes to buy USD sell HKD at 7.75 and sell USD buy HKD
at 7.85. The HKMA honours these undertakings without conditions.
USD inflows such as those currently entering Hong Kong, are often referred to as “hot money”. But if the money flowing in was to be
“hot money”, it is important
to note it would remain in the banking system as USD, and not be converted into HKD. However, the opposite is happening with incoming monies being converted into HKD, principally because it
is in fact “cold money” and likely
to remain in Hong Kong for a sustained period of time — the reason USD inflows go through the conversion process.
It is also important to note that any assumption that USD inflows are equivalent to the amount bought
by the HKMA would be a drastic under-estimate of the actual USD inflows. The reason for this is banks
in Hong Kong are more than willing to buy USD at or near HKD7.75 — the strong side of the convertibility range — which due to the linked exchange rate system, could not fall further. However, because of their concerns about asset to liability currency mismatch, there is a limit to the amount of USD that banks are able to buy. Put simply, banks are only able to hold a certain amount in USD assets while their liabilities are mainly HKD denominated.
/ BANKING TODAY / JULY- AUGUST 2020
“作為外匯交易中心，香港排名世界第三，僅 次於倫敦和紐約，與新加坡並列。更重要的 是，穩定可靠的港元使香港對中國大陸的價 值增加。香港是中國的、也是為中國服務的國 際金融中心。”
值得注意的是，香港出乎意 料的可能是世界上為數 不多、美元供應充足的 城市或司法管轄區之 一。事實上，美元不斷流 入香港，以至於香港金 融 管 理 局( 金 管 局 )需 要 介入外匯市場，購買美元 以保持港元與美元匯率 不 變 。截 至 四 月 底 ，金 管 局 購買的第一批美元流入總額為27 億，等於向香港銀行體系注入了206.5
第二波美元流入始於6月4日，且現在仍 在繼續。截至發稿日(2020年7月29日)，
金管局購買了115億美元，其中878億港 元注入了香港銀行體系。根據聯繫匯率 制度，金管局承諾以7.75的價格買入美 元、賣出港元，以7.85的價格賣出美元、買 入港元。金管局亦一直無條件兌現這些 承諾。
正如目前流入香港的美元，流入的美元通 常 被 稱 為 「 熱 錢 」( H o t M o n e y ) 。 但 是 ， 如 果 流入的貨幣真的是「熱錢」，需要注意的是， 它將以美元的形式保留在香港的銀行體 系中，而不會轉換為港元。但是，近期流入 的美元資金持續被轉換為港元，主要是因 為它實際上為「冷錢」(Cold Money)，並且 很可能會在香港停留很長時間——這是美 元流入經過轉換的原因。
億港元。
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