The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Wednesday unveiled a budget for the new financial year, with a focus on measures to support the speedy recovery of the economy.
The Hong Kong economy will see a visible rebound this year with growth of 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent for the year as a whole, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan said while delivering the 2023-24 budget at the HKSAR’s Legislative Council.
As overall economic sentiment improves in tandem with the revival of economic activities domestically as well as the rapid return of Hong Kong’s exchanges with the mainland and the world to normalcy, private consumption will increase, he noted.
The Hong Kong economy contracted by 3.5 percent year on year in 2022 amid both external and domestic headwinds, while the underlying inflation rate remained moderate at 1.7 percent last year, Chan noted.
He forecast that the underlying inflation rate and the headline inflation rate will rise to 2.5 percent and 2.9 percent respectively this year, taking into account domestic cost pressures alongside the economic recovery.
The economy will grow by an average of 3.7 percent annually in real terms from 2024 to 2027, higher than the trend growth of 2.8 percent during the decade before the pandemic.
The underlying inflation rate is forecast to average 2.5 percent annually, he said.
Source: Xinhua
