Finance: The US is raising interest rates this month. The downside risk of the property market is high.

The Financial Secretary, Chen Maobo, said at the event in Vietnam yesterday that the US interest rate hike this month is no suspense. Hong Kong has a very high chance of following the rate hike this month. He believes that the downside risk of the property market is high, but the completion of new buildings in the next three to four years is still high.

Trade wars, Hong Kong companies said orders slowed

For the United States to implement a tax on US$200 billion in Chinese products, Chen Maobo pointed out that the trade war will be a long time and there will be many aspects of the impact on Hong Kong. Among them, half of the goods re-exported from China to the United States through Hong Kong were affected, accounting for 3.5% of Hong Kong’s total exports, but it is estimated that the direct impact on Hong Kong’s economy is less than 1 percentage point, even if it joins US President Trump earlier. The additional $267 billion list, which together accounted for 7% of Hong Kong’s total exports. He expects Hong Kong’s economic growth to be 3-4% this year. The impact of the trade war will not be reflected until next year. However, the trade war will also affect investor confidence, and some Hong Kong businessmen have indicated that their orders have slowed down.

Regarding the liquidity problems faced by enterprises, Chen Maobo said that the Hong Kong Government has conducted stress tests on financial security and the stability of the banking system. He believes that Hong Kong’s banking system is stable, with a liquidity of 150% and a capital adequacy ratio of 19.1%, which is higher than international standards.

He also pointed out that since the financial tsunami in 2008 to 2016, there have been trillions of funds flowing into Hong Kong. The abundant funds have made interest rates low. In the past four months, there have been about 100 billion Hong Kong dollars of funds flowing out. He does not rule out that there will be more funds flowing out, but I believe There is still sufficient funds in Hong Kong.

The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Chan Tak-lin, will expire next year. When asked about the renewal of the contract, Chen Maobo said that he would not respond, but said: “He is doing very well and Hong Kong’s banking system is very stable.”