As Hong Kong prepares for another major push in public works, one question deserves far more attention than it has received: are we buying infrastructure in a way that is sustainable for the construction industry and the public as a whole? In his February budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced that HK$150 billion (US$19.1…
Hong Kong’s financial chief has revised the city’s fiscal surplus for the previous year to HK$11 billion (US$1.91 billion), nearly four times the original estimate, saying the ongoing Middle East conflict had a limited impact on the economy with gross domestic product (GDP) growth remaining strong in the first quarter. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po…
For the first time in its history – and in a striking departure from its long-standing doctrine of minimal economic intervention – Hong Kong is preparing to draw up a five-year plan. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has asked all policy bureaus to help draft proposals by the end of the year. To lead the…
In the summer of 1998, the usually placid air at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s headquarters in Citibank Tower suddenly evaporated as regional currencies collapsed like dominoes. Rapacious speculators had shorted currencies such as the Thai baht, the Indonesian rupiah and the Korean won and had profited handsomely. The contagion looked like it would also…
Hong Kong is not just China’s economic sandbox but also a driver of the country’s development, the finance chief has said, calling the city the nation’s international financial centre. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Monday that Hong Kong must move swiftly to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and “get empowered” in its use, as…
Hong Kong has adequate safeguards to prevent any misuse of the Exchange Fund, according to the economist known as the “father of the city’s dollar peg”, who called concerns over the government’s decision to draw from the de facto sovereign wealth fund “a little overblown”. John Greenwood said the government’s plan to transfer HK$150 billion…
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered his latest budget on February 25. Over the past decade, under his stewardship, Hong Kong has weathered multiple economic shocks and recently returned to a respectable growth rate of 3.5 per cent. Yet the tasks ahead are formidable: addressing a structural fiscal deficit in the city’s capital account while…
Hong Kong tycoons have expressed confidence in the Middle East’s economic outlook amid continued strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks, stressing that the city’s economy is unlikely to be affected. Speaking to the media in Beijing on the sidelines of the “two sessions” – the nation’s annual parliamentary…
Hong Kong does not plan to get another transfer from its Exchange Fund in the next five years, the finance chief has said, citing a new medium-range forecast explaining why the rare move will not be repeated. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po elaborated on his fiscal plan on Saturday, after his budget announcement to withdraw…
A combination of a strong initial public offering (IPO) market and bond sales has helped put Hong Kong’s financial health back in the black sooner than expected, with analysts expecting a robust pipeline of listings to be key to sustaining the city’s surplus. In his budget speech on Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said…