SECRET 高度機密
2
devaluation was in 1949 but the fixed sterling value
of the Hong Kong dollar was not changed on that occasion.
However, in 1967 the Hong Kong dollar was not devalued
So until 1967 the rate
to the same extent as sterling.
was HK$16 to the pound and from November 1967 to 1972
the rate against the pound was HK$14.5454. Soon after
the outbreak of the second world war Hong Kong became
part of what was known as the Overseas Sterling Area;
this meant operating within the net of exchange controls
set by the UK authorities.
3.
When sterling was floated in June 1972 and
the Sterling Area was dismantled, a fixed central rate
of exchange against the US dollar of HK$5.65 to one US
The Government then undertook
dollar was established.
to hold the Hong Kong dollar within a narrow margin around
that central rate. This arrangement lasted until November
1974 with one change in the central rate in February
1973 following a 10% reduction in the par value of the
US dollar in terms of gold and Special Drawing Rights.
In November 1974 as a result of upward pressure on the
Hong Kong dollar resulting from a worldwide weakness
of the US dollar it was decided that there was no alternative
but to allow the Hong Kong dollar to float. From November
1974 to 16 October 1983, the Hong Kong dollar floated
freely, in common with currencies of other major market
/economies.
G.F. 316
SECRET 高度機密