September 27, 2003	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1424

HONG KONG, Sept 26: Hong Kong’s exports grew by seven per cent in August compared to the same month last year, slower than the previous month as exports to some East Asian markets eased, the government said on Friday.

Strong growth in exports has been one of the few things propping up Hong Kong’s economy over the last 18 months as domestic demand languished under high unemployment.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a very worrying sign that the export growth rate has slowed,” said Marvin Wong, economist at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.

“The key is whether there are other growth drivers that will keep GDP growing. For the time being I see that domestic demand is improving quite decently and services exports, that is tourist arrivals, are also improving decently,” he said.

The year-on-year growth rate was below a median growth forecast of 9.5 per cent in a Reuters poll.

For the three months to end-August, exports grew by 0.1 per cent compared to the preceding three months on a seasonally-adjusted basis, also slower than expected.—Reuters