Even during the property downturn in the second half of 1994 and 1995, the delinquency ratio remained low, at around 0.2%. 88 The contribution of the services sector to GDP is now about 85%. BIS Review 19/1998  -4leaders have clearly and repeatedly said that the RMB will not be devalued9. The cynics would of course immediately remind us that in the monetary history of the world, devaluations of currencies were frequently preceded by strong denials and that these matters are determined by market forces and not the words of government officials. But I hope the cynics would also spend a little time to look at the facts. 12. First, there are still capital controls in the Mainland of China. That makes the control of the exchange rate much easier. Indeed, the foreign exchange market in the Mainland of China is dominated by one large player sitting on about $ billion of foreign reserves and that is the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). One simply cannot take a short position against the RMB and so technically the RMB is not exposed to speculative attacks. 13. Second, there are political and policy considerations for the Mainland of China to refrain from involving itself in competitive devaluation.
We have also been prudent over the years in strengthening our monetary system through a series of monetary reform measures. These were not crisis induced, but were put together in quiet times after careful consideration and consultation. I would not wish to bore you with further technical details, other than to say that these reform measures implemented in the past ten years, inconspicuous they might be at the time of introduction, have each proven to be most useful and effective in ensuring the stability of our currency under rather stressful conditions. 35. Notwithstanding this, we have taken advantage of the occasion arising from the currency attack last October to conduct yet another review of our currency defence to see if there is still room for improvement. We have met with many of those who have a keen interest in this area, including the academics, the analysts and the bankers. And I have personally been in correspondence with the IMF and a couple of Nobel Laureates. The review was completed in January this year. I am pleased to say, first of all, 20 The poll was conducted by Asian Commercial Research Limited and its results were published in Sunday Morning Post on  7 December 1997. 21 Concluding Statement of the IMF Article IV Consultation Discussions with the People’s Republic of China in respect of  the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region dated 4 November 1997. BIS Review 19/1998  - 10 that there was unanimous support on the Hong Kong dollar’s link with the US dollar.