Tang Optimistic Despite Record Unemployment Levels

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

20 August 2003

Unemployment in Hong Kong has edged to a new record high of 8.7% for the three months to July of this year, as its economy reeled from the after-effects of the SARS epidemic.

As of July, the unemployment figure had risen by 9,000 to hit 309,000, and analysts have forecast that the jobless rate will peak at 9% later in the year before falling back. Despite this, Finance Secretary Henry Tang remains optimistic and believes that the worst of the territory's economic crisis is now behind it.

"The unemployment rate is beginning to stabilise, the increase has moderated," Channel News Asia quoted the Finance Secretary as announcing. "We also believe this moderation shows that our economy is beginning to show some signs of recovery and I hope we can realise this recovery," he added.

One encouraging sign for the territory however, is the apparent recovery in the tourism sector; recent figures show 1.3 million tourists visited Hong Kong during July - up 80% on the previous month. According to Daniel Chan, chief economist at DBS Bank, if tourism recovers a further 20% in the next year, it could add 1% to the jurisdiction's GDP level.

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