HONG KONG- Hong Kong’s economy grew 5.4 percent in the third quarter from a COVID-19 induced slump a year earlier, the government said on Friday, with longer-term prospects hanging on the impact of the city’s zero-COVID policy.
Year-on-year growth slowed from 7.6 percent in the second quarter.
On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded by a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in July-September. That compared with a contraction of 0.9 percent in the previous quarter.
“Provided that the local epidemic remains under control, a solid year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter should be attainable for the Hong Kong economy,” the government said in a statement.
The government revised its full-year growth forecast to 6.4 percent, close to the upper bound of the previous forecast range of 5.5 percent-6.5 percent, but revised down full-year underlying CPI forecast for 2021 to 0.7 percent from 1 percent.
