Hong Kong facing greater financial crisis than in 2008 or late 1990s warns city’s finance chief, as he predicts ‘long-lasting’ impact of coronavirus

Hong Kong’s economy could fare even worse than expected and shrink by between 4 and 7 per cent in 2020 because of the serious and sustained impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the city’s finance chief has said.

If the economy declines at the conservative end of the of the government’s range, by 4 per cent, it will its the worst performance since 1998, when it shrank 5.9 per cent. Since the handover, there have only been three annual economic contractions, in 1998, 2009 and 2019. “Employees are having pay cuts, taking unpaid leave or being laid off in many industries,” Chan said.

Chan the minister said the government’s HK$290 billion worth of anti-epidemic measures amounted to 9.5 per cent of the city’s GDP.

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