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Link DetailsEconomy grows 2.9% in Q3 Hong Kong?s economy grew solidly by 2.9% in the third quarter of 2018 year-on-year, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of above-trend growth.
However, it moderated from the 3.5% growth in the second quarter.
Total exports of goods grew notably by 5% year-on-year in real terms for the third quarter.
But the pace of export growth decelerated in September, as the impact of the US-Mainland trade conflicts began to surface.
Taking the external environment into account, economic growth for 2018 as a whole is forecast at 3.2 %, within the previously announced range of 3% to 4%.
At a press conference today, Government Economist Andrew Au said the local economy faces increasing external downside risks as global economic growth has peaked and lost some momentum.
This can be seen in the slower growth in the EU economy and in many Asian economies this quarter, he added.
?Secondly, the US-Mainland trade conflict has weighed on global economic sentiment, with possible repercussions on global trade and global investment activities.
?Unless there?s some cooling off of the trade tensions, the impacts on the Hong Kong?s economy are likely to become more apparent in the near term.?
The residential property market cooled off in the third quarter, as overall flat prices edged down by 1%.
However, overall flat prices in September were still higher than the 1997 peak by 125%.
Pressures on consumer prices continued to build up alongside sustained above-trend economic growth. The consumer price inflation picked up to 2.8% in the quarter, averaging 2.5% for the first three quarters as a whole.
The forecast rates of underlying and headline consumer price inflation for the year have been slightly revised upwards to 2.7% and 2.4% respectively. |
