China News Service, Hong Kong, February 28 (Reporter Han Xingtong) The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Paul Chan Mo-po, stated in a new fiscal budget on the 28th that Hong Kong’s economy is expected to expand further this year, with real growth for the year ranging from 2.5% to 2.5%. % to 3.5%.

　　Paul Chan Mo-po said that 2023 will be the year when Hong Kong’s economy returns to normal after the epidemic.

After the lifting of anti-epidemic measures and the resumption of comprehensive "customs clearance" at the beginning of the year, economic activities immediately improved, and the economy returned to positive growth of 3.2% last year.

　　Looking forward to 2024, Chen Maobo said that the external environment this year is still relatively complex.

Geopolitical tensions will continue to affect international trade and capital flows, and may also disrupt global supply chains.

Financial conditions have tightened significantly over the past two years and will continue to constrain the growth of advanced economies.

On the other hand, the market generally believes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates within this year.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund predicted that global economic growth would remain at 3.1% this year, lower than the average annual growth rate of 3.8% between 2000 and 2019.

　　He believes that although the external environment will continue to put pressure on Hong Kong's exports of goods, there is a chance that global financial conditions will gradually relax during the year, which may be beneficial to export performance.

　　In addition, Chan Mo-po mentioned that as the passenger reception capacity, especially air passenger transport capacity, continues to recover, and the SAR government vigorously promotes the event economy, the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong is expected to further increase, driving the growth of tourism and related service exports.

　　Taking into account the above factors, Chan Mo-po predicts that Hong Kong's economy will further expand this year, with full-year real growth ranging from 2.5% to 3.5%. It is predicted that the basic inflation rate and overall inflation rate this year will be 1.7% and 2.4% respectively.

　　Chan Mo-po believes that in the medium term, Hong Kong's economy will develop sustainably and steadily.

The country's efforts to promote high-quality development will bring broad development space to Hong Kong.

The national "14th Five-Year Plan" has set a clear positioning for Hong Kong as "Eight Major Centers".

As long as Hong Kong makes good use of its unique advantages under "one country, two systems" and moves forward steadily, actively integrates into the overall development of the country, aligns with the national development strategy, and continues to function as an important node in the domestic and international dual cycles, the future will be bright.

　　Based on the above considerations, Chan Mo-po predicts that Hong Kong’s economy will grow at an average annual real rate of 3.2% between 2025 and 2028.

Underlying inflation is expected to average 2.5% per year.

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