Hong Kong gears towards back-to-back recessions: report

Economists forecast that GDP will contract by more than 1% in 2020.

Hong Kong is heading for its first back-to-back annual recessions on record, as the coronavirus shutdown cripples an economy already battered by months of political unrest.

Economists’ forecasts since the start of February point to a contraction of more than 1% this year, following a 1.2% decline in 2019. That would mark a bigger decline and a slower recovery from the virus than from the SARS episode of 2003, when output roared back after the all-clear was signaled.

Weakened by months of anti-China protests that have kept tourists away and slashed retail receipts, Hong Kong cannot rely on trade and arrivals from the mainland to stoke an economic comeback. The world’s second-largest economy is struggling to restart production after shuttering factories and businesses in an effort to stem the spread of the illness.

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