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Recognising the “Grey Rhino”

A gist of the blog:

Last week, I visited Beijing together with senior colleagues in charge of financial affairs, and had a number of meetings with financial officials of the Central authorities. While we all agreed that the global economy has been performing well recently, there are still risks ahead given the uncertainties arising from imminent increase of interest rates, the rise of protectionist sentiments and geopolitics tensions. In fact, after several global financial crises in the last few decades, Hong Kong, the Mainland of China and many major economies have all attached great importance in safeguarding against risks of financial markets. The assets prices in Hong Kong, including that in the stock market and property market, have been on the rise this year. I think we all need to stay vigilant despite the rosy picture in front of us, and we need to be alert and watch out for both the unforeseeable ‘Black Swan’ and the traceable ‘Grey Rhino’.

November 26, 2017