Retail sales value grows 16%

The total retail sales value for December has been provisionally estimated to be $29.4 billion, up 16% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department says.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales grew 11.3%.    

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Negative-equity mortgages drop

The estimated number of residential mortgage loans in negative equity fell to 466 cases at the end of December from 835 at the end of September, the Monetary Authority announced today. The aggregate value dropped to $700 million from $1.5 billion. 

The unsecured portion of these loans fell to $100 million during the three-month period.

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Currency body forecasts subdued inflation

The Exchange Fund Advisory Committee's Currency Board Sub-committee expects the economic recovery to continue this year and inflation to remain subdued.

It noted growth might be stronger if the recovery in global financial markets and the performance of asset prices in Hong Kong turn out to be stronger than expected.

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Value of 5 major domestic exports falls

Decreases were recorded in the value of domestic exports classified in the five major industries last year, compared to the year before.

The apparel industry recorded the largest drop, falling 79.9% to $4.5 billion, the Census & Statistics Department said today.

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