HK economy worsens as exports drop

HONG Kong’s exports fell for the first time in five months in November, worsening the outlook for an economy already in a recession.

Overseas sales declined 5.3 percent from a year earlier to HK$231 billion (US$29.8 billion), the government said yesterday on its Website, after gaining 9.4 percent in October.

Asia’s export-dependent economies are being battered by falling demand for electronics and textiles amid recessions in the United States, Europe and Japan. China mainland plans to promote trade with Hong Kong by stepping up road and rail links with the mainland, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said this month.

The outlook for the global economy and Hong Kong exports is “poor,” Irina Fan and Joanne Yim, economists at Hang Seng Bank Ltd, said in a report. Hong Kong’s domestic market may be aided by government measures to stimulate the economy and its ties with the Chinese mainland, they said.

Imports fell 7.9 percent to HK$239 billion, leaving a trade gap of HK$8.2 billion, Bloomberg News said.

“As the synchronized global economic downturn is beginning to take its toll on world trade, the near-term outlook for Hong Kong’s exports is bound to be negatively affected,” the government said in a statement. “The government will monitor the situation closely.”

Reports showed trade within the region is worsening. Taiwan’s exports sank 23.3 percent in November, the biggest drop in seven years.