Financial chief reacts to recent UBS forecast of a 30pc drop in property prices
NG KANG-CHUNGkc.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Monday, 05 October, 2015, 2:34am
UPDATED : Monday, 05 October, 2015, 2:34pm
John Tsang Chun-wah would not say if the government's market-cooling measures needed to be revised in order to stabilise the market. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong's financial chief says the government's goal has always been to maintain a "stable" property market, amid some dire predictions for home prices recently.
John Tsang Chun-wah would not say if the government's market-cooling measures needed to be revised in order to stabilise the market, but he seemed to suggest that a rise in US interest rates this year would not be as likely as once expected.
He said he expected the Federal Reserve to look into the US economic situation before making a decision on interest rates.
When asked by reporters to comment on predictions last week by investment bank UBS that home prices in Hong Kong would fall by up to 30 per cent in the next two years, he replied: "Concerning the property market, it has always been our objective to keep the market developing in a stable manner. It will continue to be our objective."
The financial secretary sent a shockwave through the market recently after he said the government would adjust its policies accordingly if needed in the wake of recent corrections in the property market, prompted partly by the prospects of a US interest rate increase this year.
Tsang's remarks were widely interpreted as a sign that the government was considering dropping some market-cooling measures adopted since 2012.
JP Morgan also projected a possible fall of 5 to 10 per cent a year over the next three years.
But Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying effectively upended Tsang's position and said there were no plans to revise the measures and that the government would continue to increase land supply and provide more homes.
Tsang was speaking to the press yesterday before leaving for a 10-day overseas trip.
He will visit technology start-ups in New York and meet officials and other finance figures in Washington.
Then he will travel to Lima, Peru, from October 9-11 to attend the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group as a member of the Chinese delegation. He will stop in New York on his way back and is expected in Hong Kong on October 14.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1864115/maintaining-stable-property-prices-remains-our-goals-says
