Explainer

What’s the Hong Kong Dollar Peg and Why Is It Causing Such a Stir?

Hong Kong’s five-hundred, one-hundred and twenty-dollar banknotes.Source: Bloomberg

Pegged to the US dollar since 1983, the Hong Kong dollar is usually a dull currency. Except when it’s not, like this year.

The city’s currency has recently experienced wild swings, caused by volatility in the US dollar, which has come under pressure amid uncertainty from President Trump’s trade war.