Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Tuesday said it was deeply disappointed by Moody's latest decision to downgrade Hong Kong's credit rating.

It came after Moody's Investors Service announced on Monday it has downgraded Hong Kong's long-term issuer rating to "Aa3" from "Aa2." However, it changed Hong Kong's credit outlook to "stable" from "negative."

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Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the HKSAR government has been implementing the "One Country, Two Systems," "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy in strict accordance with the Basic Law, the SAR government said in a statement.

"We do not consider that there is sufficient ground for Moody's to raise any query on them."

"Our fiscal performance and external positions have long been amongst those of the top-rated economies and serve as a strong buffer for Hong Kong to withstand shocks."

"The persistent social unrest reflects that there are deep-seated problems in society in Hong Kong, on which the government will conduct an independent review soon. We are also proactively engaging people from different backgrounds, political stances and age groups through dialogue and listening to their views humbly to find a way out for society," the SAR government said.

The government has also stressed that it will continue to humbly listen to members of the public and strengthen communications with the residents to overcome challenges and help relaunch Hong Kong.

HKSAR chief secretary says assessment 'unfair'

HKSAR's Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung described Moody's assessment as "unfair" in a press conference on Tuesday morning. 

Cheung said it was not appropriate to neglect Hong Kong's advantages in terms of system and business environment, and the city should not be rated solely from a political perspective.

He also referred to the government's adherence to the principle of "One Country, Two Systems", and the recent launch of 10 relief measures, as well as the plan to set up an independent review committee to examine social issues. These all reflect the government's efforts and will to deal with the problems, he added.

According to the HKSAR government, the recurrent expenditure on social welfare has increased from 65.3 billion US dollars during 2017-18 to 84.3 billion US dollars during 2019-20, representing a rise of 29 percent.