Transcript of remarks by FS after Ante Chamber exchange session (with photo/video)
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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at a media session after attending the Ante Chamber exchange session this morning (October 5):
Reporter: To maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness, and also to speed up the recovery of the Hong Kong economy, does the Government have any plans? Thank you.
Financial Secretary: Hong Kong, being a small and open economy, is subject to the impact of a number of factors, particularly external factors. Lately, the external environment has not been very positive. Given rising inflation, interest rate hikes will keep on going; and that the monetary policies of major central banks are tightening, their negative impacts are affecting the global economy.
The geopolitical situation is also challenging. No matter it is the Russia-Ukraine conflict or other geopolitical concerns, they are still lingering. It is affecting the supply chain. The supply chain has also been affected by the continuing COVID situation. So you know, the external environment is not positive, and that has impacted on our exports. Our interest rate has also gone up, affecting the borrowing costs of businesses and our private consumption. External factors are also causing volatility in the financial markets. Unavoidably, our financial market has also been affected.
Locally, in Hong Kong, asset prices have been depressed, both property prices and stock prices. So the short-term outlook of the Hong Kong economy is not positive at all. This year, we will unavoidably record a negative growth. The outlook of our economy in the coming year, 2023, is still pretty challenging, given the continuing headwinds in the external market. But for ourselves, in the medium to long term, I remain very positive given the continuing development of our country, in particular the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development. And that our Government will take a more proactive attitude to adopt bold measures to stimulate our economic development and provide new economic impetus.
In about two weeks’ time, the Chief Executive will give his first Policy Address. In attracting investments, business talents and facilitating market development, there will be bold measures.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)