Growth springs eternal

Somehow growth is still racing along in my hometown - Hong Kong’s economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of this year as output expanded 1.8 per cent from the previous quarter, its fastest pace since the third quarter of last year and "buoyed by strong investment and resilient exports."

Consumption was also solid although it dipped slightly from the previous quarter.

From a year earlier, first-quarter growth picked up to 7.1 per cent, higher than expected and up from a revised 6.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.

“So all cylinders are firing,” said Paul Tang, senior economist at Bank of East Asia “... But I think further down the road, we are expecting significantly slower growth in exports in view of what’s happening in the United States markets. Extracts courtesy of SCMP 16/5/08