HONG KONG, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's de-facto central bank bought HK$14.868 billion ($1.894 billion) from the market in New York trading hours to stop the local currency weakening and breaking its peg to the U.S. dollar.
It was the largest purchase of Hong Kong dollars by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) since its current round of interventions began in May 2022.
The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to a tight band of between 7.75 and 7.85 per U.S. dollar. It has been at the weak end of the band since last week.
The aggregate balance, the key gauge of cash in the banking system, will decrease to HK$77.005 billion on Feb. 16, an HKMA spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
The authority said on Tuesday it had bought HK$4.223 billion from the market during New York trading hours on Monday.
($1 = 7.8499 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Donny Kwok and Georgina Lee; Editing by Chris Reese and Bradley Perrett)
