Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s economy is moving in the right direction, but low vaccination rate will hamper growth, finance chief says
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan warns blue-collar workers will bear the brunt of economic stagnation if vaccinations do not pick up
- ‘The government is eagerly working to control the pandemic situation. But residents’ participation in the vaccination drive is equally important,’ he says
Last Monday, the Census and Statistics Department said the city’s gross domestic product grew by 7.8 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2021, after a historic contraction of 9.1 per cent over the same period the year before.
However, many sectors of the economy, including the food and drink industry, travel, retail, and transport and logistics continued to face losses, Chan noted.
“The government is eagerly working to control the pandemic situation. But residents’ participation in the vaccination drive is equally important,” he wrote. “This is the key to protecting yourself, your family and helping society as a whole return to normal.”
Since the roll-out of the city’s vaccination programme in February, about 1.05 million people have received their first shot, while about 648,900 of those, or 8.7 per cent of the city’s 7.5 million residents, were fully vaccinated as of Saturday.