HONGKONG'S economy is likely to grow 6.1 per cent this year, up from five per cent last year, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB.) In its Asian Development Outlook, released yesterday, the bank said gross domestic product (GDP) growth was likely to remain robust this year, although it would taper off next year to 5.3 per cent.
The growth forecast is just ahead of the 5.8 per cent tipped for Singapore but well below the seven per cent predicted for South Korea, one of the four Newly Industrialised Economies (NIEs). It is also well above the Government's forecast of 5.5 per cent.
The bank was more optimistic about the territory's economy than the Government, which has forecast GDP growth of 5.5 per cent for this year, up from the actual five per cent last year.
The bank based its rosy forecast largely on the prospects for growth in the Chinese economy, where GDP was forecast to grow a massive 11 per cent this year.
''China's efforts to accelerate the development of a market-oriented economy along with some recovery in the world economy, particularly in 1994, will have a positive impact on growth,'' the report said.
It discounted the effect of the Sino-British argument over Governor Chris Patten's democratic reforms.