HONG KONG: Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Sunday (May 3) warned the city could be hit by its worst economic slump on record even as authorities prepare to ease some lockdown measures amid signs the coronavirus outbreak has been contained.
Reiterating a forecast for a contraction of 4% to 7% this year, Chan said in a blog post on Sunday that the low-end of that estimate would be the deepest drop since records began in the 1960s.
"The city is taking a hit from violent vandalism and the pandemic,” Chan wrote in his blog."First-quarter GDP is expected to be worse and it’s a third straight quarter of contraction, which is worrying.” Hong Kong’s economy was already reeling when the coronavirus emerged in the city earlier this year after months of sometimes violent protests. Now with the outbreak under control -- with several days of no new cases reported over the past two weeks -- the city is again facing fresh political unrest.
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