HONG KONG: Government's data on Monday (May 4) showed that Hong Kong’s downturn is now the worst on record, extending the first recession seen in a decade as the coronavirus outbreak further battered an economy already weakened by political unrest. The city’s economy contracted 8.9% in the first quarter from year-ago levels.
People on May 3, 2020, enjoying the day at a beach after no local Covid-19 cases have been recorded for two weeks in Hong Kong. The govt announced Hong Kong’s downturn is now the worst on record, extending the first recession seen in a decade as the Covid-19 outbreak further battered an economy already weakened by political unrest. - Reuters
The latest decline also marks the third straight quarterly contraction for Hong Kong, the longest such stretch since the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2009. On Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan warned of the worst full-year performance on record with a contraction of as much as 7%. Chan will also be speaking to the media at on Monday about the GDP data.
"Faced with a collapse in global demand, Hong Kong’s small, open economy is taking a severe hit,” said Qian Wan, economist with Bloomberg Intelligence, in an April 28 note ahead of the results."The trade- and service-oriented economy will suffer a major drag from the global downturn.” As of December, 340,000 SMEs accounted for more than 98% of all business units and employed some 1.3 million people or about 45% of the total excluding civil service, according to government data.
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