Economy grows 1.7%

August 14, 2016

Hong Kong’s economy regained some momentum in the second quarter of this year, largely due to a rebound in the volume of goods exports.

The economy grew by 1.7% year-on-year in real terms, beating the 0.8% growth seen in the preceding quarter.

After declining for four consecutive quarters, Hong Kong’s total goods exports grew by 2% in the second quarter.

Private consumption expenditure grew by 0.6% over a year earlier.

Underlying consumer price inflation eased to 2.3% from 2.8% in the previous quarter.

Delivering the Half-yearly Economic Report, Acting Government Economist Andrew Au said visitor arrivals finally picked up in July, showing some positive signs.

“For Hong Kong’s services exports, the decline of visitor arrivals narrowed notably in Q2 and actually reversed to modest growth in July, suggesting the drag from the slowdown of inbound tourism has been reducing.

“If this positive trend continues, it will hopefully help improve our services exports, and also the downward pressures on the retail trade will decrease gradually towards the latter part of the year.”

The residential property market rebounded in the second quarter, especially in terms of trading activity.

Residential property prices rose by 2% between March and June, with overall flat prices in June exceeding the 1997 peak by 59%.

The report said the global economy will likely continue to expand at a modest pace for the rest of the year.

It said, while the UK’s vote to leave the European Union has added some uncertainty, the Government will continue to pay close attention to local and external developments.

The economic growth forecast for 2016 remains at 1% to 2%.

Source: http://www.news.gov.hk/

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