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The 2016-17 Budget - Overview

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Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah announced the 2016-17 Budget at Legislative Council this morning.

He started by saying that Hong Kong has secured decent economic growth, maintained low unemployment, and managed healthy public finances.

"Acute social conflicts will add uncertainties to the already adverse economic environment," he said.

He anticipated that political dispute would intensify over the coming months because of the Legislative Council (LegCo) By-election and General Election.

Asian region's export performance was worsened by the global economic setback in 2015. The Hong Kong's overall economic performance in 2015 dropped.

Hong Kong's exports of goods fell 1.7 per cent, which recorded the first annual decline since 2009. Exports of service also declined 0.6 per cent, the first annual decline since 1998.

Both local tourism and retail sales were in a weak condition in 2015. Visitors arrivals dropped 2.5 per cent for a year and retail sales was also recorded the first decrease since 2009.

There was a decline in the value of total exports of goods and the number of visitor arrivals in Hong Kong since mid-2015, and he forecasted a more severe fall will happen in 2016.

The GDP growth in real terms at one to two per cent in 2016, lower than last year's growth.

The headline inflation rate for 2016 will be 2.3 per cent and the underlying inflation rate at two per cent.

 

《The Young Reporter》

The Young Reporter (TYR) started as a newspaper in 1969. Today, it is published across multiple media platforms and updated constantly to bring the latest news and analyses to its readers.

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