LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - HSBC can still grow its global revenues even as central banks look to dial down interest rate rises in their battle against inflation, the bank's chief financial officer Georges Elhedery told a conference on Tuesday.
Speaking at an event hosted by Bank of America, Elhedery said balance sheet growth would be difficult in 2023 due to lower client appetite for loans but he expected this to change sometime in 2024, with the bank targeting growth in areas including wealth management in Asia.
"In the medium term, we do expect and do have ambition to continue growing mid-to-single digit percentage points our balance sheet," Elhedery said.
Elhedery said that the bank's overall loan book was performing well, but he said offshore-booked commercial real estate loans in China had been "severely affected" by policy changes, resulting in additional charges booked in the second quarter.
(Reporting by Iain Withers, editing by Sinead Cruise)
