Hong Kong enters recession as protests show no sign of relenting

Hong Kong has fallen into recession, hit by more than five months of anti-government protests that show no signs of relenting, and is unlikely to achieve annual economic growth this year, the city’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, said.

Protests in the former British colony have reached their 21st week. On Sunday, black-clad and masked demonstrators set fire to shops and hurled petrol bombs at police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.

The MTR, the city’s metro system, has shut services early for the past few weeks and said it will close around two hours earlier than normal on Monday by 11 p.m. to repair damaged facilities.

Tourists numbers have plummeted, a decline Chan called an “emergency” with the drop in visitor numbers worsening in October, down nearly 50 percent.

Retail operators have been forced to shutter for multiple days over the past few months.

Via Reuters