Hong Kong Trade Balance Swings To Deficit On Exports Slump

(RTTNews) - Hong Kong's foreign trade balance turned to a deficit in January from a surplus in the previous year, as exports fell faster than imports amid the slackened external environment and the impact of the early arrival of the Lunar New Year this year, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed on Monday.

The visible trade balance showed a deficit of HK$25.3 billion versus a surplus of HK$ 6.64 billion in the same month last year. However, the deficit has decreased considerably from HK$51.64 billion in December.

The visible trade gap of HK$25.3 billion was equivalent to 8.0 percent of the value of imports.

The annual decline in exports was 36.7 percent in January, which was worse than the 28.9 percent fall in December.

Imports also declined at a faster pace of 30.2 percent annually in January, after a 23.5 percent decrease in the prior month.

At the start of the year, exports to Asia as a whole plunged 41.4 percent. Within this, shipments to Japan plunged the most, by 50.0 percent, followed by Singapore with a 45.2 percent decline.

"Looking ahead, while the slower global economic growth will continue to pose severe challenges to Hong Kong's export performance in the near term, the expected faster growth of the Mainland economy and the lifting of cross-boundary truck movement restrictions between Hong Kong and the Mainland should alleviate part of the pressure," a government spokesman, said.