Joseph Yam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, laments the situation in the following terms: Whether we like it or not, we now find ourselves in the unenviable position of holding a substantial part of our savings in the financial liabilities of an economy that does not save, fearing that a diversification of a small part of such holdings might lead to a sharp fall in the value of the rest, thus shooting ourselves in the foot.
Our work has been driven by the need to ensure fair and reasonable treatment of consumers through the CCMA and the need for lenders to move away from short term forbearance measures to long term sustainable solutions. The Central Bank has pushed hard for lenders to resolve the high levels of arrears cases by applying long term sustainable solutions.