Hong Kong consumers are feeling the pinch of rising costs from inflation, but with the world still gripped by Covid-19, is there light at the end of the tunnel?
- Poorest families hit hardest by rising costs, with many still affected by pandemic job losses, pay cuts
- Developed economies rebound, but supply chain disruptions drive up costs
Every time Hong Kong housewife May Liu goes to the wet market near her home in Kwai Chung, she worries about the price of everything.
The mother of two used to buy a cut of pork for HK$30 (US$3.80), but that sum will now get her less. A small piece of pork liver for noodles has doubled in price to HK$10. Staple leafy greens, choy sum, are now about HK$30 per kilogram, when they used to be under HK$20. She gets only four oranges for HK$20, not five.
She said her family had been eating less. While food prices have risen, their household income fell through the Covid-19 pandemic as her husband, a part-time construction worker, had fewer jobs.
“I used to be able to feed my family for about HK$100 a day with a good amount of vegetables, fish and pork, but not any more,” Liu, 42, said.
From soft drinks to vegetables, meat and petrol, Hongkongers are feeling the pinch of higher prices from inflation, and all signs are that the worst is yet to come.
