A nurse (center) walks through a temporary center for patients set up outside the Caritas Medical Centre in Hong Kong on February 16, 2022, as the city faces its worst COVID-19 wave to date. Photo: AFP

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) revised the economic forecast for the special administrative region this year, predicting that Hong Kong's economy will grow by 1.2 percent, down 1.6 percentage points from the forecast it made in December, as Hong Kong has been hit by a fresh round of COVID-19 flare-up.

Peter Wong Tung Shun, chairman from the HKGCC said that the Omicron variant of the virus inevitably delayed border reopening with the mainland, making it more difficult for local businesses to recover quickly, and not all the companies in the region are able to maintain operations remotely.

Wong noted if the SAR government moves to tighten social distancing, the contact-intensive services sector will be particularly hit.

The Chamber also expected Hong Kong's unemployment rate to reach 4.8 percent by the end of the year, 1.1 percentage points higher than the previous forecast; retail sales for 2022 will fall by 2 percent, narrowing three percentage points from the last estimate. The growth rate of exports will be lowered from 7 percent to 6 percent.

Wong expressed hope that the SAR government can take immediate measures to address the impact caused by the coronavirus.

Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR, said on Tuesday that her government will recruit more truck drivers, as well as transporting goods from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong by sea, China Media Group (CMG) reported.

Hong Kong is going through a difficult fifth wave of the pandemic, and Lam said that the SAR government has support from the central government and will spare no effort to combat COVID-19, according to a report by Xinhua on Monday.

Global Times