Word: kong
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...government has done what it can to try to boost growth. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has sliced its benchmark interest rate to 1.5%, from 6% a year ago. But economists still expect next year to be worse. Goldman Sachs predicts GDP will grow only 2.2% in 2009. In the meantime, Hong Kong's glum populous can at least take comfort in the efforts of one of the city's more esoteric groups. In mid-November, several members collected in Causeway Bay, a popular shopping and restaurant district, to offer people "free" hugs. More such sessions are planned in coming...
...Hong Kong has good reason to be afraid. The economy is experiencing its worst slowdown since the SARS virus rampaged the city in 2003, stalling the economy for months on end. GDP shrank 0.5% in the third quarter - the second consecutive quarter-on-quarter contraction. That officially means Hong Kong is in a recession, and it doesn't look likely to end any time soon. The government lowered its forecast for 2008 growth from 4-5% to 3-3.5%. "The global financial turmoil has derailed the economic upturn that Hong Kong has enjoyed," government economist Helen Chan told reporters...
...downturn has hit hard and fast. Hong Kong, like much of the rest of Asia, has been booming for several years; between 2004 and 2007, GDP growth averaged more than 7%. The economy was propelled forward by closer ties to China after Hong Kong was handed back to Beijing by Great Britain in 1997. Millions of mainland tourists flooded the city and spent their newfound wealth in Hong Kong's famous luxury shops. A rush of Chinese companies looking to tap international capital markets turned to Hong Kong's stock exchange, solidifying the city's status as a world-class...
...however, this Chinese territory's economy - highly dependent on financial services and trade - is proving vulnerable to the global downturn. As Europe and the U.S. slump, so have merchandise exports from Hong Kong, which in the third quarter grew at their slowest pace in more than six years. Hit by higher costs, slowing orders and tightening credit, thousands of factories owned by Hong Kong firms are closing up in southern China's industrial heartland. This week, HSBC, the city's largest bank, said it would layoff about 450 people in Hong Kong due to deteriorating business conditions and a poor...
...Worried about job security, Hong Kong citizens have begun cutting back, dampening another pillar of the city's growth: consumer spending. Simon Wong, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, says sales at the city's 14,000 eateries have recently dropped off by as much as 20%. He fears many will be forced to shut down. "People are not so willing to spend their money eating out," he laments. (See TIME's special report on Hong Kong...