Hong Kong News (Reporter Chen Ran) The Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced on May 4 that the estimated GDP for the first quarter of this year fell by 8.9% in real terms from the same period last year and by 5.3% in real terms from the previous quarter, both in 1974. The largest single-quarter decline in history since record. Chen Maobo, the Financial Secretary of the SAR Government, believes that the figures show that the Hong Kong economy has fallen into a deep recession.
Chen Maobo met with the media on the afternoon of the 4th and said that due to the impact of the global new crown epidemic, Hong Kong ’s local economic activities and the supply chain in the region have been severely disrupted. The economic recession intensified in the first quarter. It is expected that the short-term economic outlook will still face great uncertainty and it is difficult to quickly recovery.
According to figures released by the Census and Statistics Department, compared with the first quarter of 2019, total local exports of goods fell by 9.7%, service exports fell by 37.8%, private consumption expenditure decreased by 10.2%, and investment expenditure also contracted by 13.9%. Chen Mao confessed that the “three carriages” of the economy such as exports, consumption and investment expenditures have “turned off” one after another, causing a heavy blow to the local economy.
Chen Maobo believes that private consumption plays the most important role in economic stability. The SAR Government will continue to support enterprises and laborers, and strive to restore local consumption as soon as possible. He emphasized that at this moment in Hong Kong, "people harmony" is more important than "time and geographical advantage", and he hopes that citizens and enterprises will work together to help the economy gradually come out of the bottom.