Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Hope for Hong Kong’s economy, but low vaccination rate not helping: finance chief

Hope for Hong Kong’s economy, but low vaccination rate not helping: finance chief

Financial Secretary Paul Chan warns blue-collar workers will bear the brunt of economic stagnation if vaccinations do not pick up.

Hong Kong’s economy is moving towards recovery, but its slow progress in vaccinating residents against the coronavirus could hold back growth, the city’s finance chief has warned.

While private consumer spending increased by 1.6 per cent in the last quarter, after falling for the previous six, current growth was still mostly being driven by exports, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote on his blog on Sunday.

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.

In a bid to boost the vaccination rate, authorities launched a “vaccine bubble” plan at the end of last month with more relaxed restrictions for bars and restaurants on the condition they ensured staff and customers had been immunised. Local tours were also allowed to resume after a six-month hiatus, again, provided staff were vaccinated, with exceptions made for those deemed medically unfit.

On Sunday, Hong Kong logged one new imported coronavirus case from Argentina and no local infections. The latest case brought the city’s tally to 11,807, with 210 related deaths.

While Chan said there was a glimmer of hope for the city’s economy, any progress would be delayed if the vaccination rate remained low, with working-class residents bearing the brunt of the economic stagnation.

The restaurant industry recorded HK$19.7 billion in income for the first quarter of 2021, down 9 per cent from the same period last year, and 37 per cent from the year before, Chan noted. Meanwhile, unemployment in the industry was at 13.3 per cent, almost twice the overall unemployment rate of 6.8 per cent.

The food and drink, travel, retail, and transport and logistics sectors employ about 1 million people, or about a third of Hong Kong’s total workforce.

“These people will certainly feel the cold from a weak economy even more than everyone else,” Chan wrote.

Meanwhile, the finance minister wished Hongkongers a happy Mother’s Day, noting vendors at a wet market he visited in the past few days had told him business had improved lately, while restaurant bookings had also increased.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×