Hong Kong’s Retail Slump Continued in April Amid Global Shutdown
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong's retail activity extended a decline in April as the coronavirus pandemic continued to constrain global travel.
The city's retail sales by value fell 36.1% from year-ago levels to HK$24.1 billion ($3.1 billion), for a 15th consecutive monthly decline, according to a government release. That's ahead of the median economists' forecast for a 40% slump, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Retail sales by volume also fell 37.5% from a year earlier.
The latest slide comes after unprecedented declines of more than 40% in February and March amid the height of efforts to contain the coronavirus crisis. Hong Kong's economy registered its worst quarter on record in the first three months of the year.
Hong Kong has been largely successful in keeping infections under control and is gradually easing social-distancing restrictions. Yet prospects for an economic rebound in the months ahead are clouded by the return of political unrest, especially after China announced plans to impose a national security law.
Capital Flight Fears Grow Alongside Hong Kong Political Turmoil
The anti-China tone of the protests will also make it difficult for Hong Kong's tourism industry to see a significant recovery given mainland visitors are unlikely to return right away, even as virus-related border restrictions ease.
Visitor arrivals from China tumbled to just under 3,000 people in April, down from a peak of about 5.5 million in January 2019. Overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong dropped to about 4,100 people in April, down from a peak of about 6.8 million last January.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
