Hong Kong Banks Given Funding Plan Deadline as Loans Surge
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Hong Kong banks were given until the end of the month to submit their funding strategies to the de facto central bank amid concerns that “rapid” credit growth will curb liquidity and reduce loan quality.
“It is clear that the same rapid pace of credit growth is unsustainable,” Norman Chan, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said in a circular yesterday. Bank credit expanded at an annualized 26 percent in the first two months of 2011 after climbing 29 percent last year, he said.