The launch of the final phase of Hong Kong's US dollar payment system early next week will offer paper cheque clearing and delivery versus payment settlement of debt securities denominated in US dollars in Hong Kong, a senior official said Wednesday, December 13.
Joseph Yam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said to the Seventh Annual Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce Business that the US dollar payment system will significantly lower costs and reduce settlement risks for businesses throughout the region.
The system "is part of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's continuing program of building financial infrastructure under its strategy for developing Hong Kong as the financial hub of Asia," said Yam.
Yam noted that the question of exchange rate systems was a crucial element in the management of international capital flows. And the linked exchange rate system, in combination with sound fundamentals and well managed banks, had helped Hong Kong through the recent crisis and had propelled improvements in productivity.
"Because the exchange rate link suits an externally oriented, entrepot economy, it will continue to serve Hong Kong well in its expanding role as a regional and international hub, as China enters the WTO," he added.
(People's Daily 12/13/2000)
