HKMA rejects two-way convertibility - so what?

The Exchange Fund Advisory Committee (EFAC) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) decided on 2 August not to offer an explicit undertaking to sell Hong Kong dollars at the convertibility undertaking rate of HK$7.8 for US$1. The HKMA commits itself, through “one-way convertibility”, only to buy - but not to sell - Hong Kong dollars at HK$7.8 per US dollar to fend off speculative selling of the Hong Kong dollar. The EFAC’s decision of not guaranteeing to sell Hong Kong at the given rate effectively rules out two-way convertibility for the time being.