Advertisement

Hong Kong exports tipped to fall 4 per cent in 2016 as gloom deepens

Trade Development Council cuts forecast and says downturn across border, waning US growth, and deflationary pressure in Europe and Japan will take toll

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Hong Kong’s exports shrank by 5.6 per cent from January to April compared with a year earlier. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong’s Trade Development Council (TDC) has cut its forecast for the city’s exports this year from flat to a 4 per cent decline, a prospect that would put the figures on a par with the depth of the global financial crisis in 2009.

Advertisement

The cut came after exports performed worse than expected between January and April, shrinking 5.6 per cent compared with a year earlier.

TDC director of research Nicholas Kwan Ka-ming said the outlook was clouded by a worsening economic downturn across the border, waning growth in the United States, and deflationary pressure in the European Union and Japan.

“It is one of the worst since 2009,” Kwan said.

Advertisement

He said Hong Kong’s exports could decline by 3 to 4 per cent in each of the third and fourth quarters this year.

Advertisement