HKMA Intervenes to Buy Local Currency, First Time Since '05
- HKMA buys total of HK$3.258 billion to defend peg system
- Aggregate balance to fall to HK$176.5 billion on April 16
Photographer: Jerome Favre/Bloomberg
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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority bought the local currency for the first time since the current trading band was imposed in 2005, after the exchange rate sank to the weak end of its permitted range.
The de facto central bank purchased a total of HK$3.258 billion ($415 million), including HK$816 million it bought earlier Thursday, according to the HKMA’s page on Bloomberg. The Hong Kong dollar dropped to HK$7.85 earlier in the day, at the edge of its HK$7.75-7.85 range against the greenback, and has traded close to or at that level since.