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Hong Kong’s finance chief forecasts economic recovery next year, but admits it all depends on Covid-19 vaccine and US-China relations
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan predicts rebound in second half of 2021 but admits there are uncertainties
- City’s economy expected to shrink by 6.1 per cent this year, its biggest contraction on record
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Hong Kong’s economy could recover in the second half of 2021, the city’s finance chief said on Monday, but admitted it would depend on forces largely out of his control.
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Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said any rebound relied on the coronavirus pandemic easing, the availability of a vaccine, and relations between the United States and China improving.
Speaking at the Legislative Council’s financial affairs panel, Chan predicted a recovery could happen alongside an improvement in the global economy, but admitted both depended on a Covid-19 vaccine appearing on the market.
He said the city would have to wait until the second half of next year at least for “an economic recovery to happen in Hong Kong”.
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“It hinges on the containment situation of the pandemic around the globe, as well as in Hong Kong, the availability of vaccines, and how extensive immunisation is around the world,” he told lawmakers.
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