Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Government announced today (March 21) that it has concluded discussions with the Government of Kuwait to accept vaccination records issued by Kuwait as recognised vaccination records for Hong Kong residents who have stayed in Group A specified places under the mechanism. The relevant arrangements will take effect at 0.00am on March 23 (Wednesday).

     Kuwait is currently a Group A specified place. From 0.00am on March 23, Hong Kong residents who hold a vaccination record issued by Kuwait’s relevant authorities in the prescribed format can board a flight for Hong Kong from Group A specified places. The vaccines administered for the relevant travellers have to be vaccines listed on the Government’s List of COVID-19 Vaccines Recognised for Specified Purposes.

     The Government has implemented stringent inbound prevention and control measures for travellers arriving at Hong Kong from overseas places. Travellers who have stayed in Group A specified places can only board a flight for Hong Kong if they are Hong Kong residents who are fully vaccinated and hold recognised vaccination records. Recognised vaccination records include (a) vaccination records issued by Hong Kong, (b) vaccination records or certifications issued by Mainland or Macao authorities or an institution recognised by Mainland or Macao authorities, (c) vaccination records or certifications issued by an authority or recognised institution of a country where its national regulatory authority is designated by the World Health Organization as a stringent regulatory authority, (d) vaccination records or certifications issued by a relevant authority or recognised institution of a country with which Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement with its government, or (e) vaccination records issued by an organisation with which Hong Kong has reached a recognition agreement arrangement.

     The list of places or organisations that are accepted for issuing recognised vaccination records is set out in the Annex, and will be uploaded to the Government’s COVID-19 thematic website.

     The Government will continue to discuss with other places on the arrangements for the recognition of vaccination records, and will update the list as recognition arrangements are agreed with these places. read more

     The Government announced today (March 21) that in order to fight the coronavirus epidemic, the Environmental Protection Department and the Drainage Services Department in collaboration with the cross-disciplinary team of t… read more

     The Chief Executive has re-appointed seven serving members to the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) from April 1, 2022, for a term of two years.        The re-appointed members are:   Dr Johnnie… read more

     The Government today (March 21) exercised the power under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) to make a “restriction-testing declaration” (declaration) effective from 5pm, under which people (hereafter referred to as “persons subject to compulsory testing”) within the specified “restricted area” in Kwun Tong (i.e. Sin Tat House, On Tat Estate, Kwun Tong, excluding On Tat Shopping Centre and Unit 1 on Podium Level. See Annex.) are required to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the “restricted area” have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained. The Government aims at finishing this exercise at around 1pm tomorrow (March 22). The operation may be extended depending on test results.
 
     A Government spokesman said, “Under Cap. 599J, the Government can, according to the needs of infection control, make a ‘restriction-testing declaration’. As the sewage discharged from the above building was tested positive for COVID-19, it is suspected that there are asymptomatic patients in the building. Given the risk of infection in the relevant area is assessed to be likely higher, the Government decided to make a ‘restriction-testing declaration’ for the relevant area.”
 
     The Government will set up temporary specimen collection stations at the “restricted area” and request persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo testing before 9.30pm today. Arrangements will be made for persons subject to compulsory testing to undergo a nucleic acid test at specimen collection stations where dedicated staff will collect samples through combined nasal and throat swabs. Persons subject to compulsory testing must stay at their place of residence until all test results are ascertained to avoid cross-infection risk. The Government will make arrangement to facilitate specimen collection for people with impaired mobility. All persons in the “restricted area” who were tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus on or after December 31, 2021 will not be required to undergo testing in this compulsory testing exercise.
 
     The Government spokesman said, “We understand that this exercise will cause inconvenience to the public. The Government has made arrangements to carry out testing for all persons present in the ‘restricted area’ as soon as possible. The aim is to strive to complete testing of all identified persons subject to compulsory testing and confirm the results, and finish the exercise at around 1pm tomorrow. The Government will make a public announcement when the declaration expires officially. In the cases in which employees are unable to go to work because of the declaration, the Government hopes their employers can exercise discretion and not deduct the salaries or benefits of the employees.”
 
     If staying in the “restricted area” will cause unreasonable hardship to individuals who are not residents in the area when the declaration takes effect, government officers may exercise discretion and allow that person to leave the area after considering the individual circumstances. That person must have followed the instructions to undergo testing and leave his/her personal information for contact purposes.
 
     According to the compulsory testing notice to be issued today, any persons other than those specified above who had been present at the above building for more than two hours from March 8 to March 21, 2022, even if they were not present in the “restricted area” at the time when the declaration took effect, must undergo compulsory testing on or before March 23, 2022. As a mutant strain is involved, for prudence’s sake, vaccinated persons and persons who have recently been tested are also required to undergo testing.
 
     The Water Supplies Department has set up hotlines (Tel: 9201 7291 or 9148 3846) which will start operation at 5pm today for residents restricted by the declaration to make enquiries and seek assistance. The Social Welfare Department will also provide assistance to the affected persons.
 
     The Government appeals to persons subject to compulsory testing for their full co-operation by registering and undergoing testing, and waiting for the results patiently at home. The Government will strictly follow up on whether the persons concerned have complied with the compulsory testing notices and “restriction-testing declaration”. Any person who fails to comply with the compulsory testing notices commits an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $10,000. The person would also be issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order or the “restriction-testing declaration” is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 4 ($25,000) and imprisonment for six months. read more

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (March 21) the preliminary Balance of Payments (BoP) and International Investment Position (IIP) statistics of Hong Kong for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the whole year of 2021. This release also included the preliminary External Debt (ED) statistics of Hong Kong for the same period.

I. Balance of Payments 

     Hong Kong recorded a BoP deficit of $7.0 billion (0.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) in the fourth quarter of 2021. Reserve assets correspondingly decreased by the same amount. This was against a BoP surplus of $27.2 billion (3.7% of GDP) in the third quarter of 2021.

     For 2021 as a whole, there was a BoP deficit of $9.1 billion (0.3% of GDP), as against a surplus of $263.0 billion (9.8% of GDP) in 2020.

Current account 

     The current account recorded a surplus of $96.1 billion (12.8% of GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2021. This implies that Hong Kong’s savings was greater than its investment, enabling Hong Kong to accumulate external financial assets (such as equity securities or debt securities) as a buffer against global financial volatilities. Compared with the current account surplus of $33.4 billion (4.7% of GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2020, the increase in surplus was mainly due to the increases in goods balance, services surplus and net inflow of primary income.

     The goods account recorded a surplus of $41.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, as against a deficit of $5.7 billion in the same quarter of 2020. Over the same period, the services surplus increased from $13.3 billion to $23.6 billion. The primary income inflow and outflow amounted to $377.8 billion and $342.3 billion respectively, thus yielding a net inflow of $35.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with a net inflow of $30.1 billion in the same quarter of 2020.

     For 2021 as a whole, the current account surplus was $321.6 billion (11.2% of GDP), larger than that of $186.8 billion (7.0% of GDP) in 2020, mainly due to the increases in goods balance, net inflow of primary income and services surplus.

Financial account

     An overall net outflow of financial non-reserve assets amounting to $135.7 billion (18.1% of GDP) was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with an overall net outflow of $37.1 billion (5.1% of GDP) in the third quarter of 2021. The overall net outflow recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021 was due to net outflows of portfolio investment and other investment, partly offset by net inflows of direct investment and cash settlement of financial derivatives.

     In the fourth quarter of 2021, reserve assets decreased by $7.0 billion, as against an increase of $27.2 billion in the third quarter of 2021.

     For 2021 as a whole, financial non-reserve assets recorded an overall net outflow of $379.1 billion (13.2% of GDP), as against an overall net inflow of $19.2 billion (0.7% of GDP) in 2020. The overall net outflow recorded in 2021 was largely due to a net outflow of portfolio investment, partly offset by a net inflow of direct investment.

     In 2021, reserve assets decreased by $9.1 billion, as against an increase of $263.0 billion in 2020.

II. International Investment Position 

     At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, both Hong Kong’s external financial assets and liabilities stood at a very high level, amounting to $50,127.1 billion (17.5 times of GDP) and $33,552.8 billion (11.7 times of GDP) respectively, a typical feature of a prominent international financial centre.

     Hong Kong’s net external financial assets (i.e. assets minus liabilities) amounted to $16,574.3 billion (5.8 times of GDP) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with $16,639.0 billion (5.9 times of GDP) at the end of the third quarter of 2021. Hong Kong’s net external financial assets to GDP ratio is one of the largest in the world, which provides the economy with a strong cushion against sudden external shocks.

III. External Debt 

     At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, Hong Kong’s gross ED amounted to $14,652.2 billion (5.1 times of GDP). Compared with $14,619.1 billion (5.2 times of GDP) at the end of the third quarter of 2021, gross ED increased by $33.2 billion. This was mainly attributable to the increases in ED of the government, ED of other sectors and debt liabilities in direct investment (intercompany lending), partly offset by the decrease in ED of the banking sector.

     As one of the world’s major financial centres, Hong Kong has a significant amount of ED held against the local banking sector arising through normal banking businesses. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, 60.7% of Hong Kong’s ED was attributable to the banking sector. Other ED mainly consisted of ED of other sectors (23.8%) and debt liabilities in direct investment (intercompany lending) (15.1%).

Further information

     BoP is a statistical statement that systematically summarises, for a specific time period (typically a year or a quarter), the economic transactions of an economy with the rest of the world (i.e. between residents and non-residents).

     IIP is a balance sheet showing the stock of external financial assets and liabilities of an economy at a particular time point. The difference between the external financial assets and liabilities is the net IIP of the economy, which represents either its net claim on or net liability to the rest of the world.

     Gross ED, at a particular time point, is the outstanding amount of those actual current, and not contingent, liabilities that are owed to non-residents by residents of an economy and that require payment of principals and/or interests by the debtors at some time points in the future.

     Table 1 presents Hong Kong’s BoP. Table 2 presents the detailed current account, while Table 3 presents the detailed capital and financial account. Table 4 shows Hong Kong’s IIP, and Table 5 shows Hong Kong’s ED.

     Statistics on BoP, IIP and ED for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the whole year of 2021 are preliminary figures, which are subject to revision upon the availability of more data.

     More details of the statistics of BoP (including seasonally adjusted current account), IIP and ED, together with the conceptual and methodological details, are presented in the publication Balance of Payments, International Investment Position and External Debt Statistics of Hong Kong, Fourth Quarter 2021 published by the C&SD. Users can download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1040001&scode=260).

     For enquiries about the BoP, IIP and ED statistics, please contact the Balance of Payments Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 6979; fax: 2116 0278; email: bop@censtatd.gov.hk). read more