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Andrew Au, an economist of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said Friday that the economy will hopefully improve gradually in the second half of the year if the local COVID-19 epidemic remains well contained and Hong Kong's major trading partners are successful in reopening the economy.
Au said at a press conference that the HKSAR government will continue to closely monitor the situation and introduce measures as necessary to support enterprises and safeguard jobs.
The HKSAR government on Friday published revised economic figures for the first quarter of the year.
According to the figures, Hong Kong's GDP slumped 8.9 percent year on year and 5.3 percent quarter on quarter during the January-March period, both the largest for a single quarter ever on record. Goods and services exports dropped 9.9 percent and 37.8 percent from a year ago, respectively. Private consumption shrank 10.1 percent, and investment went down 14.3 percent.
The labor market also worsened in the first quarter, with the jobless rate up to 4.2 percent, the highest in more than nine years.
Au said the government has lowered the GDP growth forecast for 2020 to negative 4 percent to negative 7 percent, considering lackluster economic performance in the first quarter, uncertainties of the pandemic and difficult global economic situation, as well as massive relief measures.
