Financial News
Written by: Zhang Weilun
2020-05-04 13:33
Last update date: 2020-05-04 13:33Hong Kong ’s economy suffered from the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic in the first quarter of this year, but bank loans still increased. Ruan Guoheng, vice president of the HKMA, pointed out that the overall loan volume of the banking industry in the first quarter of this year increased by 2.8%, and the annualized rate of increase exceeded 10%, reflecting that the banking industry did not tighten lending under the epidemic. He also pointed out that even though the loan range in the first quarter was not as good as before, the annualized rate of more than 10% is in line with the current economic situation and can bring support to the economy.
He also pointed out that the specific loan quality of retail banks is still good and at a historically low level, and he is not concerned about credit risk for the time being; the industry expects that the cost of credit will rise and the cost of credit will be under pressure.
When talking about the ratio of household debt to GDP in Hong Kong rose to 80%, the president Yu Weiwen pointed out that the economic downturn with Hong Kong, private bank customers borrowed into the financial market, and mortgage loans also increased, emphasizing that the authorities will work closely with banks Monitor whether the client's guaranteed assets are sufficient.
Household debt situation is healthy
He also pointed out that there is still no obvious increase in the bad debts of private or mortgage loans, but as the economy deteriorates, the situation of bad debts will emerge in the future. Hong Kong ’s current financial assets or deposits still account for a relatively high proportion of GDP, and Hong Kong ’s household debt situation is healthy.
On the other hand, Ruan Guoheng also pointed out that as of April 24 this year, the banking industry had approved a total of 14,000 corporate customer relief measures, involving an amount of 93 billion yuan, and 7,700 individual customer applications, involving an amount of 21 billion yuan.
In addition, Yu Weiwen pointed out that at present, Hong Kong's electronic retail payment is full of flowers and highly efficient, and there is no need to distribute electronic money from the level of the central bank. However, at the cross-border payment level, it may be necessary to further use electronic money and conduct a pilot program with the Bank of Thailand. Fintech will help improve cross-border trade financing and improve payment efficiency.
Monetary Authority Yu Weiwen Ruan Guoheng