Hong Kong Inflation Hits Highest Since 2015 As Economy Reopens
Hong Kong’s consumer inflation rate jumped in September to the highest in seven years.
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s consumer inflation rate jumped in September to the highest in seven years, as the Asian finance hub reopens to the rest of the world and joins other economies experiencing rising prices.
The city’s composite consumer price index climbed 4.4% last month from a year earlier, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed Friday. That was higher than the median estimate of a 4.1% increase in a Bloomberg survey of economists. It also far surpassed a year-on-year rise of 1.9% in August, and was the highest reading since March 2015.
Prices for food, clothing and energy-related items rose, but price pressures in other major areas were “broadly in check,” a government spokesman said in a release accompanying the data.
Global inflation has soared in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK’s consumer price index unexpectedly rose 10.1%, matching a 40-year high, and economists said inflation there could soar to 15% or more early next year.
“While import prices will continue to rise notably amid high inflation in many major economies, the largely mild domestic cost pressures should help keep overall inflation moderate in the near term,” the Hong Kong government spokesman said.
Inflation in Hong Kong is expected to take a gentle upward path this year, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence note, but will be restrained by a slow recovery in demand without a full reopening internationally and with mainland China. While Hong Kong ended hotel quarantine in September, it still maintains some movement restrictions on arrivals for their first few days in the city.
Hong Kong’s economy is set to contract for the third time in four years, amid the impact of Covid restrictions and global growth headwinds.
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