In Focus

Hong Kong economy shows more signs of overheating--Hang Seng

Despite growing economic growth of 7.2% in the first quarter, business has become less willing to commit investment spending, as companies see more challenges ahead, according to a Hang Seng report.

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Civil servants get pay increase

A pay increase of 6.16% to 7.24% will be back dated to April 1.

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Hong Kong rate hikes may have burst housing boom

The government’s measure to cool the property market, which had surged almost 70% since the beginning of 2009 had limited impact.

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Hong Kong to boost copyright protection

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Labour Department launches wage check campaign

The special enforcement campaign targets 2,000 workplaces until June 15.

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Government posts almost $2bln surplus in April

As at 30 April fiscal reserves stood at $597 billion.

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Hong Kong dollar remains strong

Monetary Authority belies marginalisation of HK dollar amid intensified use of renminbi in Hong Kong.

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China running short of finance industry talents

95% of China finance professionals surveyed report skills shortage following Mainland’s booming finance industry.

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Hong Kong housing boom may bring out underlying risks

Slowdown in residential sales activity over the past quarter revealed a growing uncertainty in the market as the number of overall residential transactions dropped significantly by 42%.

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We hope to become a yuan clearing bank in SG: BOC HK

This as Singapore tries to compete with Hong Kong for trade settlement in yuan.

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Inflation may deteriorate corporate payment performance--Coface

Study says Hong Kong is vulnerable to a sudden rise in risk aversion that could lead to a bust of the real estate bubble.

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Hong Kong’s April inflation up 4.6%

Surge in private housing rentals and food, excluding meals bought away from home caused the slight increase in overall consumer prices.

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Hong Kong unemployment rate up to 3.5%

Total employment rose notably in February-April, by 8,200 to 3,585,500 but outpaced by an even bigger increase in the labour force.

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Asia’s first quarter office rental growth up 1.7%

Apart from the existing upsides, the Colliers International report shows growing inflation pressure is the market’s major uncertainty.

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Hong Kong first quarter real GDP up 7.2%

The economy is poised for a real growth of 5%-6% for this year, up one percentage point from February forecast announced in February..

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Hang Seng forecasts 6% first quarter GDP growth

Despite reaching above-trend growth, business has turned more cautious and the export outlook is more uncertain, considering adverse impacts of Japan’s earthquake disaster on global supply chains.

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