HSBC assistant general manager and head of commercial banking Margaret Leung said the bank's loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) this year had grown by at least 12-13 per cent, compared with estimates of 10 per cent made in early 2003.
Growth next year is forecast to be more than 20 per cent, Leung said.
HSBC's lending to SMEs in September and October grew 41 per cent compared to the January-August period.
Leung said SME loans represented just 10 per cent of the bank's commercial lending.
She added that, while Hong Kong's import and export growth for the first 10 months of this year, as announced by the government, was about 10-11 per cent, the growth of HSBC's import and export business was as much as 20 per cent.
Source: The Standard
