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FS: No. I have to say no in that sort of way because, of course, no currency is immune to speculation but certainly there is no reason for Hong Kong to be a target. And I have just been explaining, inside there, why. All the factors which people normally look at, whether you choose the way the economy is run, the size of the reserves, the efficiency of the Government, the amount of debt, you know any of the normal measures, we are very strong. We have the seventh largest foreign currency reserves and so on and so forth. So if people are willing to be speculators, if they are looking for a nice, ripe, weak target, then there are many dotted around the world, but we are not one of them.
Question: What is the attitude of the Government or the mortgage policy, because some people are urging the Government...
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FS: I noticed that there is a suggestion that we should review it the 70% rule although we have not actually received that suggestion yet, and when we do of course we will look at it. But basically, that was a rule adopted by the banks I must say, we were quite happy about it for banking prudential reasons, not for any other reasons. I am not aware that things have changed significantly to justify a change. Certainly at the moment I am quite relaxed about the present rule.
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Question: Is it true that the Government is trying to... on the labour importation scheme... that unemployment ...?
FS: I saw the report. It is entirely wrong. We have not decided anything, that is the truth of the matter. We have said that we are reviewing that scheme against the background of the unemployment figures. I think we said that we would probably reach a conclusion in a month or two's time. But I can assure you, we have not yet reached a conclusion, because I was at a meeting on it yesterday.
Question: Sir Hamish, can you just explain why there has been this substantial increase in the surplus, 19%, I mean the figure that you have just given to us? Why?
FS: Yes. The surplus that is now being talked about is not the budget surplus, of course, it is the exchange fund, our surplus of assets over liabilities, and it is for the six months, the first half of this year. The fact is it has been quite good for investors. Bear in mind we are not in equities, we tend to be in bonds in the US. They are mainly in the US, to give a short answer. To give a longer and probably better answer, Joseph Yam is giving a press conference later today. Thank you very much.
End/Wednesday, August 9, 1995