By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-31 09:21:31 | Updated at 2024-10-31 11:14:19
2 hours ago
Recent strength in Hong Kong’s economy petered off in the third quarter, with growth at 1.8 per cent year on year, prompting a coming revision of the government’s full-year forecast in the middle of November.
The Census and Statistics Department, which released advance estimates on Thursday, said it would revise the gross domestic product (GDP) figure and offer more detailed statistics for the third quarter on November 15.
The GDP figure slowed from a year-on-year growth of 3.2 per cent in the second quarter. In the first nine months, the economy expanded 2.6 per cent over the same period last year.
The government’s full-year forecast is for growth of between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent.
“The Hong Kong economy continued to expand, though at a moderated pace, in the third quarter of 2024 over a year earlier,” a government spokesman said. “The economy should continue to grow in the remainder of the year.”
He said while global economic uncertainties and trade conflicts might affect Hong Kong’s exports of goods, monetary easing across major central banks and an improved outlook for the mainland Chinese economy following the recent introduction of a wide range of stimulus measures would help support sentiment and activities in the domestic market.
