The FINANCIAL — Hong Kong’s economy grew at a slower pace in the first quarter, dragged by weaker private consumption and exports amid a slowdown in tourism and a cloudy global outlook, according to Nasdaq.
Gross domestic product for the three months ended March 31 rose by 2.1% from a year earlier, decelerating from a 2.4% expansion in the fourth-quarter, the city’s government said on May 15. The first quarter’s GDP growth rate was slightly better than the median 2.0% expansion forecast by four economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, first-quarter GDP by expanded 0.4% from the previous quarter, accelerating from the fourth quarter’s 0.2% growth. The government maintained its 2015 growth forecast of 1% to 3%. Last year, the city’s economy grew 2.5%.
Private consumption, which accounts for two-thirds of the city’s GDP, weakened to 3.5% year-over-year growth in the first quarter, down from a 4.1% expansion in the fourth quarter. Exports of goods also eased to a 0.4% expansion in the first quarter, weaker than the fourth quarter’s 0.6% growth.
The government on Friday cut its 2015 headline-inflation forecast to 3.2% from 3.5% previously, citing abating imported inflation, the fall in energy prices and moderate local cost pressures.
Last year, the city’s headline inflation rate was at 4.4%.
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