Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, May 4 (Reporter Zhang Huan) Chen Maobo, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, told reporters on the afternoon of the 4th that data from the first quarter showed that the Hong Kong economy fell into a deep recession.
The Census and Statistics Department of the HKSAR Government announced on the 4th that according to the pre-estimated figures, Hong Kong ’s GDP fell by 8.9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, which was much higher than the 3.0% level in the fourth quarter of last year. The biggest single-season decline.
A government spokesman said that as the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic disrupted Hong Kong ’s extensive economic activities and the supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, the internal and external demand of the Hong Kong economy continued to weaken, causing the recession to intensify in the first quarter.
Data shows that in the area of internal demand, government consumption in the first quarter increased by 8.3% in real terms year-on-year, higher than the 6.1% increase in the fourth quarter of last year; however, epidemic threats and social distance prevention measures have interfered with consumption, and rising unemployment has caused consumer sentiment. As a result, private consumption fell by 10.2% year-on-year, aggravating the 2.9% decline in the previous quarter. At the same time, under the influence of the pessimistic business climate, although the decline in the total local fixed capital formation has narrowed from the previous quarter, it still fell by 13.9% year-on-year.
In the field of external demand, total exports in the first quarter fell 9.7% year-on-year, compared with the 2.5% level in the previous quarter. In addition, the inbound tourism industry suffered a severe setback, resulting in a significant drop of 37.8% year-on-year in service output, the largest single-quarter decline in record.
Looking to the future, the SAR Government believes that Hong Kong ’s short-term economic prospects still face great uncertainty, which depends largely on the evolution of global public health and the economic situation. Exports will still be significantly under pressure. If the epidemic continues, local economic activity is expected Still bad.
In view of the severe economic situation, the Financial Secretary of the SAR Government announced on April 29 that the real economic growth forecast for Hong Kong in 2020 will be revised from -4% to -7%. Previously, in February, the Financial Secretary had estimated that the economic growth rate for this year would be between -1.5% to 0.5%. In mid-April, the SAR Government has launched the largest ever bail-out measure aimed at providing a buffer for the economy and the job market. Chen Maobo said that if the global epidemic is under control, the economy is expected to gradually bottom out in the second half of the year.