Hong Kong's Deputy Financial Secretary Wong Wai Lun: Southbound Link will set up a RMB counter and part of the stamp duty revenue can be paid directly in RMB

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Hong Kong's Deputy Financial Secretary Wong Wai Lun said while attending the radio program that Hong Kong has the world's largest offshore RMB capital pool. As the offshore RMB business continues to develop, seeking more application scenarios is an inevitable process. He pointed out that if the service or product itself is priced in RMB, direct payment in RMB can eliminate exchange costs and procedures.

As an example, Huang Weilun said that in the future, Southbound Link will have some RMB counters, and some stamp duty revenue can be paid directly in RMB. However, he stressed that the vast majority of services in Hong Kong are still priced in Hong Kong dollars, and the status of the Hong Kong dollar as a freely convertible currency will not be affected.

The Policy Address proposes a study to moderately increase the Exchange Fund's gold holdings. Wong Wai Lun said that the government is actively turning Hong Kong into an international gold trading market and commodity trading ecosystem. The HKMA moderately increases its gold holdings as Hong Kong enhances its gold storage and settlement functions. In addition to being a healthy portfolio decision, it can also play an exemplary role.

He pointed out that the government will launch the central gold clearing and settlement system in the first quarter of next year, and plans to increase the total storage capacity of Hong Kong's gold to 2,000 metric tons, of which airport storage accounts for 1,000 metric tons.

Huang Weilun also pointed out that the funds obtained from government bonds will never be used for recurring expenses such as benefits, but will be used exclusively for capital investments such as construction and public works in the northern metropolitan area. He said that this type of project is a one-time investment and can bring significant economic returns in the long run.

He took the development of Hetao District as an example. The government initially invested tens of billion yuan to level and build buildings. It has now entered the stage of introducing market capital tenders. The government will not need to invest any more in the future. It is estimated that once the development is mature, it can bring economic benefits of HK$90 billion to Hong Kong every year.