FS Visits Washington, DC

Financial Secretary Paul Chan yesterday attended the plenary session of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Washington, DC, as a member of the Chinese delegation.

After the plenary session, Mr Chan called on Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai to discuss various issues.

He then met Managing Director of the World Bank and World Bank Group Chief Administrative Officer Yang Shaolin to discuss the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's work in maintaining financial stability.

In a meeting with Director of the IMF's Asia & Pacific Department Changyong Rhee, Mr Chan introduced the measures announced in mid-August for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, safeguarding jobs and relieving people's financial burden.

The Financial Secretary also had meetings with the top management of Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Global Ratings to update them on Hong Kong's latest developments.

Mr Chan said Hong Kong's financial markets and banking system have been functioning as usual since the past few months and the recent social incidents have not hampered the city's core competitiveness.

Hong Kong's strong economic fundamentals and ample reserves enable the city to navigate the current challenges, he added.

Mr Chan was pleased that Moody's has once again in its report recognised Hong Kong's fiscal capabilities in helping the city weather challenges and he welcomed S&P's affirmation of Hong Kong's "AA+" long-term credit rating and its "stable" outlook rating.

He then met Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform of Ireland Paschal Donohoe.

Noting that Ireland and the Hong Kong Green Finance Association signed a memorandum of understanding last year, Mr Chan said he hopes Hong Kong and Ireland could promote closer collaboration on financial services including green finance.