Hong Kong’s First Quarter Exchange Funds Lose in Billions, GDP Declines: HKMA

[claireokc]

Hong Kong is seeing an omen of economic retreat in the first quarter of this year, with foreign exchange funds at an never-seen loss of $7.2 billion from two years ago, and the GDP devalued by 4 percent. A May 3 advanced estimate released by the Hong Kong government suggested that in the first quarter, the region’s GDP is estimated to drop by 4 percent due to fragile demands, both domestically and internationally. Among them, private consumption expenditure fell by 5.4 percent year-on-year, while exports and imports plummeted by 4.5 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively. Affected by the COVID-19 outbreaks, especially the Omicron variant wave, Hong Kong’s economy faced tremendous pressure in the first quarter of 2022. Cross-border transportation cuts severely dragged down exports, inflation was rampant, and economic development encountered a headwind, according to the official website of the Hong Kong government. ...

Source: https://www.theepochtimes.com/hong-kong ... 51939.html