Although the choice of currency and exchange rate policies are in many respects technical issues, decisions regarding the monetary framework can never be severed from their political context. Countries take a position on this issue based on their own experience and their relationship with other countries. Full participation in the euro area cannot come to pass without formal negotiations and EU membership. Such a decision reaches far beyond the boundaries of economic analysis and cannot be taken except through a political process wherein the population itself has the last word. It is not the role of the Central Bank to take a stand on such a major issue. Whichever decision is taken, it will have a decisive impact on Iceland’s monetary and exchange rate policy options. The Central Bank has a role to play in explaining what the options are. That is the function of this report. The Bank hopes that this publication will be useful in promoting informed, substantive discussion of currency and exchange rate policy. In closing, I wish to thank the Central Bank of Iceland staff members who devoted innumerable hours to the preparation of this report. Special thanks are due the Chief Economist, Thórarinn G. Pétursson, who has steered this project for the past two years. 12  BIS central bankers’ speeches
They are attracted not just by work opportunities but also by our cosmopolitan lifestyle, by our thriving cultural – and culinary – scene, and by the spectacular country trails and fine beaches that are so close to the bustle of city life. Crowning all of this is Hong Kong’s geographical and historical role as the gateway that connects China and the rest of the world, and the enormous opportunities that this brings. This is, I think, 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  the defining feature that firmly positions Hong Kong as the leading IFC in the Asia time zone. Resilience Resilience is the bedrock of an IFC. In the past quarter-century, Hong Kong has been exposed to a series of crises that have severely tested our financial system — the Asian financial crisis, SARS, the global financial crisis, and more recently the triple whammy of social unrest, geopolitical tensions, and COVID-19 pandemic. Through all of these crises our financial system has emerged stronger. Take the monetary system. The Linked Exchange Rate system has remained rock solid throughout these testing times. Indeed, market confidence in the system has only strengthened over time. At the height of the triple whammy that I just mentioned, we saw continued inflows into the Hong Kong dollar, pushing our exchange rate to the strong side of the conversion zone. Speculators betting against the Hong Kong dollar learned a hard lesson.