Deputy Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Michael Wong: Southbound Trading will include RMB counters, and part of stamp duty revenue can be paid directly in RMB.

Deputy Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Michael Wong, said on a radio programme that Hong Kong has the world's largest offshore RMB liquidity pool. As offshore RMB business continues to develop, seeking more application scenarios is an inevitable process. He pointed out that if a service or product is itself priced in RMB, paying directly in RMB can save conversion costs and procedures. Wong gave an example, saying that in the future Southbound Trading will include some RMB counters, and part of 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 proposed studying a modest increase in the Exchange Fund's gold holdings. Wong said the government is actively building Hong Kong into an international gold trading market and a commodity trading ecosystem. The HKMA's modest increase in gold holdings while Hong Kong enhances its gold storage and settlement functions is not only a sound portfolio decision, but can also serve as a demonstration effect. He pointed out that the government will launch a central gold clearing and settlement system in the first quarter of next year, and plans to increase Hong Kong's total gold storage scale to 2,000 tonnes, of which airport storage will account for 1,000 tonnes. Wong also said that funds raised from government bond issuance will never be used for recurrent expenditure such as welfare, but will be dedicated to capital investment such as the Northern Metropolis and public works. He said such projects are one-off investments that can bring significant economic returns in the long run. Citing the development of the Loop area as an example, he said the government invested tens of billions of dollars in early-stage site formation and building construction, and has now entered the stage of tendering to bring in market capital. In the future, the government will no longer need to put in funds, and once development matures, it is expected to bring Hong Kong HK$90 billion in economic benefits each year.