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Bloomberg
Hong Kong’s retailers saw a sharp downturn in June as the city’s borders remain closed to tourists, with businesses looking ahead to the distribution of consumption vouchers for a boost in coming months.
Retail sales by value grew 5.8% in June from a year ago to HK$28.1 billion ($3.6 billion), a government report showed, well short of the 14.1% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. It’s the first time growth has slowed to single digits since sales began expanding again in February following a two-year contraction.
Sales by volume rose 2.8% in June, also substantially lower than the median estimate of 10.5%.
“With incoming visitors remaining scant, retail sales stayed far below the pre-recession level,†the government said in a release.