News

Education, social welfare and health care will account for $137 billion in total.

The Hong Kong-dollar loan-to-deposit ratio climbed from 78.1% at the end of December to 79.3% at the end of January.

A total of 3,598,030 visitors arrived in January this year.

42 new crew graduated from the training held last December to January.

HKMA announced that the investigation of over 99% of a total of 21,748 Lehman-Brothers-related complaint cases received has been completed.

The Hong Kong pharmaceutical market should reach HKD10.56 billion by 2014, up from the calculated HKD7.19 billion in 2009.

FMCG, retail, banking and financial services sectors were responsible for some of the most significant increases in recruitment activity in the HK market.

Absence of exchange rate adjustment flexibility and monetary policy dependence makes HK incapable of tackling inflation in a proactive manner.

Hong Kong recorded a trade deficit of 16 billion Hong Kong dollars in January.

Careful thought is required to maximize value from the recent Hong Kong budget measures to improve retirement savings and healthcare.

The surplus is over six times the government's original estimate of 0.8 percent.

Although economic growth could hit 5% this year after expanding 6.8% last year, the Government should focus on "fighting inflation".

Rising inflation looms as a major issue to tackle in 2011, said Financial Secretary John Tsang.

Deloitte had called for a 150% deduction (up from 100%) on office rental expenses for SMEs.

Hong Kong's top financial official proposed measures to smooth further economic development while curbing foreseeable inflation and property bubbles. This is in addition to actions for livelihood caring.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed at 22,906.90, down 83.91 points, or 0.36 percent, after fluctuating between 22,837.09 and 23,055.47.