Hong Kong exits recession

Showing fresh signs of global economic recovery, Hong Kong has followed Germany and France in coming out of recession, with the Asian economy expanding 3.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2009.

European economic majors — Germany and France — have witnessed second-quarter growth, after a year of recession, while the downturn in the American economy is bottoming out.

Moreover, economies in the Euro zone — a grouping of 16 nations sharing the common currency euro — shrank 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, much less than the first-quarter contraction.

Hong Kong, which has been in recession for four straight quarters, has recorded a GDP growth rate of 3.3 per cent for the three months ended June.

"On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, real GDP resumed growth at 3.3 per cent in the second quarter, after contracting for four consecutive quarters," as per preliminary figures released by Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department said in a statement today.

In the first three months of 2009, the economy contracted 4.3 per cent.

Generally, recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.