Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, August 15th. The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Chen Maobo, published a blog on the 15th, stating that taking into account the strong economic performance of Hong Kong in the first half of the year, the Special Administrative Region Government will increase its economic growth forecast for the entire year from 3.5% to 5.5%. The increase to 5.5% to 6.5%, and I believe that with the support of Hong Kong’s continuous epidemic prevention and control and a series of national measures, Hong Kong’s economy will continue to have room for improvement in the second half of the year.
Chen Maobo said that Hong Kong's economy in the second quarter just announced a year-on-year growth of 7.6%. Although it was slightly lower than the 8% in the first quarter, it has rebounded for the second consecutive quarter.
Hong Kong's economy continued to improve, with a total growth of 7.8% year-on-year in the first half of the year.
He said that thanks to strong exports from the Mainland, Hong Kong's overall cargo exports have risen for four consecutive seasons, with a year-on-year growth of 20.2% in the previous quarter.
At the same time, the Hong Kong epidemic has been under stable control in recent months, which has provided a favorable space for further economic improvement.
Among them, fixed investment increased by 23.8% year-on-year in the previous quarter; private consumption expenditure has experienced a one-and-a-half year contraction, and has continued to improve since the beginning of this year. The plan will further stimulate the growth of private consumption.
With the continuous improvement of private consumption expenditure, it can be expected that the latest unemployment rate in Hong Kong announced this week will further fall from the current 5.5%.
Chen Maobo said that there is still room for improvement in Hong Kong's economy in the second half of the year, but the momentum depends on the local and global epidemic prevention and control situation in the next few months.
Affected by the "black storm" and the epidemic, the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has risen from 3.4% at the beginning of 2020 to a high of 7.2% at the beginning of the year.
Although the employment situation in Hong Kong has improved significantly in recent months, unless the epidemic is fully controlled and Hong Kong resumes personnel exchanges with the Mainland and internationally, it will be difficult for the unemployment rate to fall back to the low level before the epidemic in a short period of time.
In addition, Chen Maobo said that Hong Kong must also create favorable social and economic conditions, strive to maintain social security and stability, and avoid political interference from outside, in order to allow sustained economic development.
The country has been doing its utmost to maintain Hong Kong’s security, stability and prosperity, enacting the Hong Kong National Security Law for Hong Kong, improving the SAR election system, and the imminent implementation of anti-foreign sanctions laws in Hong Kong. Each of these measures is a strong response to emerging challenges. The underlying considerations are all for the long-term and steady development of Hong Kong.