Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday said key performance indicators (KPI) that he introduced after assuming office have helped Hong Kong climb in some international rankings.

Speaking to reporters before an Executive Council meeting, Lee noted that Hong Kong went up in a number of global assessments, including in one report published last month by think tanks based in Britain and Shenzhen, in which the SAR surpassed Singapore.

"I'm glad to see that in almost two-and-a-half years' governance, and also the new measures that we've introduced, the position of Hong Kong as an international financial centre has increased one position, so we've come back to top three."

When asked by reporters about officials not completing six of the 150 tasks Lee set out in last year's Policy Address, he explained that there were reasonable causes for the delays and that he is satisfied with the overall KPI results.

"Indicators are means. Indicators are not themselves an end. We must see how these indicators will work for us," he said.

The Chief Executive also stressed that the people in general agree with the need for reform, which was the main theme of his policy blueprint last week.