‘Worst is over’, Citi official says as bank looks to increase staff in Hong Kong to tap opportunities created by Greater Bay Area, HKEX reforms
- ‘The worst is over and the outlook for 2023 is positive,’ Anson Kwok, head of the commercial bank at Citigroup Hong Kong, says
- Bank confident about reaching target of doubling revenue from commercial banking in 2021 to 2026 period
The increase in headcount is needed after the bank recorded 11 per cent year-on-year growth in new corporate clients in the first quarter of this year, said Anson Kwok, head of the commercial bank at Citigroup Hong Kong. The number of new corporate clients in April returned to pre-Covid-19 levels last seen in 2019, he added.
The strong growth in new corporate clients suggests Hong Kong has returned to normal after three years of interruption by the coronavirus pandemic. The city started easing its Covid-19 restrictions in September before fully reopening its border in January this year. The mask mandate, the last such restriction, was lifted on March 1.
Kwok said business had, in fact, started to pick up in the later parts of last year, when the city started removing restrictions and China started to open up in November. In 2022 as a whole, Citi’s commercial bank signed up 40 per cent more new corporate clients in Hong Kong compared with the previous year.
“We are confident that we are on track to meet our five-year growth target, to double our revenue from commercial banking in the period from 2021 to 2026,” Kwok said.
