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Following is the transcript (English portion) of remarks to the press by the Financial Secretary, Mr Henry Tang, at the "Hong Kong Economic Summit: Leveraging on the Mainland and Engaging Ourselves Globally" this morning (August 23):
Reporter: Mr Tang, how would you come to the conclusion that you may have to adjust the GDP growth to more than 6%?
Financial Secretary: As far as the GDP figures are concerned, we will make an announcement this Friday on the second quarter GDP growth. The world is moving very fast today, so it is important for us to be able to move with the times and that's why a summit like what we are holding today is extremely important for the simple fact that it is moving very fast and we do want the community to engage in this discussion more, so that will form a stronger consensus.
Reporter: Just now you mentioned that the Government is actually actively seeking the possibility of issuing Renminbi bonds in Hong Kong. Can you brief us on that?
Financial Secretary: Renminbi developments are something that we are always pursuing. However, Renminbi is still not a convertible currency, so with the introduction of the four banking services that we have on Renminbi, we are quite happy about the results. It has been steady, it has been active and it has been very constructive, so we are looking to pursue more Renminbi services.
Reporter: (Revise the GDP growth)
Financial Secretary: The second quarter GDP figures will be announced on Friday, so I am not in a position today to say what the turnout will be. I only said in the welcoming remarks that I think the second quarter figures will be a double-digit growth on a year-on-year basis.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, August 23, 2004
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