{"id":430287,"date":"2026-05-16T08:13:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T08:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/430287\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T08:13:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T08:13:21","slug":"imf-lauds-resilient-hong-kong-economy-but-warns-of-risks-linked-to-middle-east-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/430287\/","title":{"rendered":"IMF lauds resilient Hong Kong economy, but warns of risks linked to Middle East war"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lauded the resilience of Hong Kong\u2019s economy, noting a sustained recovery despite economic activity having yet to return to pre-Covid levels, while warning of downside risks stemming from escalating geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">It also urged Hong Kong to pursue medium-term financial reforms, including the introduction of a goods and services tax, to stabilise and strengthen public revenue.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">A concluding statement by an IMF mission that visited Hong Kong in March, which was released on Friday, forecast that the city\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) growth would slow to 2.4 per cent this year, from 3.5 per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">It attributed the anticipated slowdown to weaker external demand and tighter financial conditions amid the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Over the medium term, the IMF expected Hong Kong\u2019s GDP to grow at about 2.25 per cent, with inflation rising gradually from 1.4 per cent in 2025 to 2.5 per cent.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The report attributed Hong Kong\u2019s stronger-than-expected economic growth last year to robust technology exports, improving private demand and a rebound in financial markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lauded the resilience of Hong Kong\u2019s economy, noting a sustained recovery despite&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,2815,219,32357,4431,27464,5107,111,43,139,22747,69,22069],"class_list":["post-430287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-covid-19","tag-economy","tag-financial-secretary-paul-chan-mo-po","tag-hong-kong","tag-international-monetary-fund","tag-middle-east","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northern-metropolis","tag-nz","tag-scmp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}