Fitch Slashes Hong Kong GDP Forecast on Latest Covid Crackdown

(Bloomberg) — Fitch Ratings Ltd. slashed its economic growth forecast for Hong Kong after the city imposed tough social distancing rules to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The ratings company halved its estimate for gross domestic product growth for this year to 1.5% from 3.0%, which would make the Hong Kong economy one of the worst performers globally.

“Our revised growth projections imply that real GDP will not surpass its 2018 level — prior to both the onset of anti-government protests and the pandemic — until 2023, which would rank among the weakest recent growth performances across all Fitch-rated sovereigns and territories,” Andrew Fennell, head of Greater China sovereign ratings, said in a release.