The Hong Kong dollar pushed to the weakest level against its US counterpart in over 33 years on Monday amid a persistent gap between US and Hong Kong interest rates.
The Hong Kong currency weakened fractionally to an intraday low of HK$7.833 per dollar in early afternoon trading. That is still within the trading range of HK$7.75-7.85 range permitted for the currency by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority since 2005, but nonetheless marks the softest level for the territory’s currency since December 12, 1984.
Capital inflows into Hong Kong - in particular from mainland investors in its stock market - have kept the territory flush with cash and its interest rates depressed, resulting in a gap between rates for the two currencies that has led to the Hong Kong dollar to steadily weaken against the greenback since the end of 2016.