Hong Kong business chamber predicts stronger GDP growth as global demand for goods soars, and city keeps Covid-19 under control
- General Chamber of Commerce revises previous estimate from 3.5 to 6.3 per cent, but concerns remain over travel restrictions
- Upgrade is in line with government’s forecast of economic growth between 5.5 and 6.5 per cent
Hong Kong’s largest business group has predicted that the city’s gross domestic product will grow 6.3 per cent this year, an increase of nearly 3 percentage points on its previous projection.
The General Chamber of Commerce said that improvement hinged on the growth of exports, although some companies remained concerned about prolonged Covid-19 travel closures hindering their operations.
Tuesday’s change in forecast for the city’s GDP was a 2.8 percentage point rise from the group’s expectation of 3.5 per cent last December.
Wilson Chong, the chamber’s senior economist, said the optimistic projection was because the city had kept the coronavirus situation under control, and global demand for goods had also picked up.
“If we can continue to control the [coronavirus] pandemic … and also open the borders as soon as possible, we can have a meaningful economic recovery because currently, recovery heavily relies on domestic demand,” Chong said.
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The upgrade was in line with the government's revised estimate that the economy could expand between 5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent this year.