Hong Kong In Focus - It is all about the Mainland…
Hong Kong started the year on a fragile note due to lower external demand – especially from the Mainland – a tightening of monetary policy and the cooling of the property market. Economic growth is expected to decelerate to +2% in 2019 (after +3.1% in 2018). However, looking ahead, we see a modest rebound happening in the coming months.
Monetary policy is determined by the currency board that pegs the HKD exchange rate to the USD. Therefore, interest rates mirror those of the U.S. In that respect, Hong Kong’s monetary policy was tightened in line with the previous Fed hikes and this resulted in a rise of borrowing costs. Now that the Fed has adjusted its stance, we see an improvement of credit conditions in the short term.