Top conference shows world banks on Hong Kong
- Meeting of leading central bankers an answer to those who doubt city’s reputation as global financial centre
If there is still any doubt as to the continuing importance of Hong Kong as a global financial centre, one only needs to survey the who’s who of global central banks at the latest high-level conference here. Run jointly by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Bank for International Settlements, it played host to almost every major central bank governor.
More than 20 incumbent central bank governors and deputy governors were there, along with eight former governors, including former People’s Bank of China chief Zhou Xiaochuan. Even four members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance, comprising English-speaking countries, sent top representatives, with the deputy governor of the Bank of England and the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia speaking on panels.
It was unfortunate that US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell or his deputies did not attend. That would have been a nice gesture considering the recent thaw in China-United States relations.
After all, Hong Kong’s monetary policy has been inextricably linked with that of the American Fed for 40 years under the currency peg.
The success of the conference dovetailed with an earlier call to arms by Zheng Yanxiong, director of the central government’s liaison office in the city. Speaking at the Hong Kong Financial Forum, he said the city’s international character was the “secret code” of its success.
Coming at a time when the Beijing and Hong Kong governments have been promoting the centrality of “one country” in the city’s two systems and national security, the message was seen as reassurance for residents and foreign investors alike.
High interest rates ‘set to endure’ as central banks tackle inflation
Meanwhile, at the high-level conference, with hyperinflation in Argentina playing out, some of the foreign central bank chiefs could not help but notice the role of the currency peg – reinforced by one of the world’s largest foreign currency reserves and strong fiscal buffers – has served as an exemplary policy.
The Bank of International Settlements office in Hong Kong continues to play a key role in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite the setbacks of the Covid-19 pandemic, confidence in our financial status remains undiminished among the elite of global central banking.
Hong Kong officials must never forget that secret code.
