Black Saturday, 24 September 1983, is the name given to the crisis when the

Hong Kong dollar The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of Hong Kong. It is divided into 100 cents. Historically, it was also divided into 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong an ...

exchange rate versus the

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

was at an all-time low. On that day, US$1 exchanged for HK$9.6. For a period,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

stores began quoting products in US dollar prices, because of the uncertain fluctuation in domestic currency.

History

From November 1974 to October 1983, Hong Kong was under a floating rate regime. The political talks of Hong Kong's handover of sovereignty to China involving UK's

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

's visit to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

began to send consumer confidence down in 1982. The stalling of the

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration was a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and People's Republic of China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance o ...

also contributed to a pessimistic attitude. The collection of events eventually resulted in "Black Saturday”, which came in the form of a currency, banking and fiscal crisis.Jao YC. 001(2001). The Asian Financial Crisis and the Ordeal of Hong Kong. Quorum, Greenwood.

Response

The government responded with a linked exchange rate on 17 October 1983.

References

{{Financial crises 1980s in economic history Market trends 1983 in Hong Kong Economy of Hong Kong Financial crises

History

Response

See also

References