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Exclusive | Hong Kong’s exposure to Evergrande crisis ‘very minimal’ and no threat to city’s financial stability, top official says
- Local banking sector’s exposure to spiralling developer about 0.05 per cent of assets, Financial Secretary Paul Chan tells Post in exclusive interview
- Recent mainland crackdown on some industries, meanwhile, presents only a ‘temporary setback’ for local stock exchange
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Hong Kong’s exposure to the unfolding debt crisis at developer China Evergrande Group is “very minimal” – at 0.05 per cent, or HK$14 billion (US$1.79 billion), of local banking assets – and poses no threat to financial stability, according to the city’s finance chief.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told the Post he had arrived at that conclusion after a recent audit of the local banking sector’s exposure to the company, one of China’s top three property developers.
Chan’s assessment of Evergrande’s impact comes on the heels of his release of a 68-page report documenting the double impact of the 2019 anti-government protests and subsequent punitive actions by the United States on the city’s business environment.
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The report, which Chan defended in an exclusive interview with the Post, said the city had now more than recovered and was poised to seize the opportunities offered by the Greater Bay Area and China’s continued development.
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On Evergrande, Chan conceded the city’s stock market was inevitably subject to some volatility, but said he believed any setback would be temporary.
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