Hong Kong’s economy will expand by between 2 and 3 per cent this year as previously forecast despite worsening geopolitics, with a robust local stock market, stabilised property sector and rising wages sustaining further growth, the government has said.
The Census and Statistics Department said on Friday that economic growth for the second quarter was 3.1 per cent, in line with its advanced estimate.
The figure was about the same as first-quarter growth of 3 per cent year on year.
Acting government economist Cecilia Lam Kwok-ying said the expansion was thanks to strong exports and improving local consumption and that she expected the economy to continue to grow for the rest of the year.
“We’ve considered a few factors for this, including the continued steady growth of the Asian economy, in particular that of China’s, which was coupled with increases in income from local employment,” Lam said.
“A thriving stock market and a stabilising property market, as well as the government’s various measures to boost consumption, attract investment and diversify markets, will also provide further support to the Hong Kong economy.”