Hong Kong’s economy continued its recovery phase as the city continued its reopening. Data published by the Census and Statistics Department showed that the city’s retail sales soared at the fastest pace in over ten years in February.
Hong Kong’s retail sales jumped by 31.3% in February after jumping by 7% in the previous month. This increase happened as the number of tourists in the city continued rising. It was also higher than the median estimate of 29.6%. Most importantly, retail sales jumped by 29.6% on a year-on-year basis.
Hong Kong’s economy has gone through a rough patch in the past few years. The country went through some of the biggest protests in 2018 and 2019. These protests led the Chinese government to intervene with the National Security Law, which has made it relatively peaceful.
Hong Kong has also lost population in the past few years. It has dropped in the past three straight years as the cost of living in the country increased. Many people also left the city because of the security law.
On a positive side, the number of tourists increased in the first part of the year after the country relaxed its Covid rules. Data shows that the city received over 1.1 million tourists, mostly from the mainland China.
Economists believe that Hong Kong’s economy will bounce back this year. They expect that the economy will expand by 3.4% from the previous estimate of 2.7%. The Hong Kong dollar has been in a downward trend, which has pushed the central bank to intervene in the market. The USD/HKD exchange rate is trading at 7.850, which is the upper side of the peg against the USD.
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