Hong Kong’s chief executive said the territory’s economic momentum has weakened in recent months on the U.S.-China trade war and other “uncertainties” while pledging to “spare no efforts” to deal with anti-government protests that risk harming the city’s growth.
There is “no room for optimism for the second quarter and the entire year,” according to a statement from Hong Kong’s government late Tuesday that cited leader Carrie Lam’s remarks at a lunch for representatives of international and local chambers of commerce.
Data due Wednesday are projected to show that growth in Hong Kong was 0.9% quarter on quarter, according to a survey of five economists, in the three months through June, while figures on Thursday may indicate retail sales dropped year-on-year for a fifth month, with demonstrations and the subsequent police crackdown likely deterring shopping and tourism.
What Bloomberg’s Economists Say…
“Carrie Lam says there is ‘no room for optimism’ on 2019 growth. We agree. Four important growth drivers for the former colony are exports, tourism, finance and property. On each of them, the signs are discouraging.”