Business confidence low, says HKTDC

Business confidence in Hong Kong saw a significant drop in the first quarter and was the worst among cities in the Greater Bay Are, a survey by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council showed.

The news came as regional rival Singapore said it would allow a four-day work week and easier office arangements, to attract talent to the city.

The pessimism in Hong Kong was mainly due to high US interest rates, which led to an outflow of purchasing power, affecting the local market and weighing on import and export businesses, said Irina Fan Yuen-yee, HKTDC's director of research.

Kelvin Lau Kin-Heng, senior economist for Greater China, noted that the timing of an expected US rate cut has been pushed back to July, and the positive impact of these cuts on the city's economy will not be felt until the second half of the year.

He said it's difficult to say when the business environment will continuously improve, as uncertainties such as geopolitical tensions may lead businesses to remain cautious about future prospects.

The Greater Bay Area saw business confidence rise to a new high in 11 quarters, although confidence in Hong Kong tumbled, the survey showed.

Guangdong Province saw its foreign trade hit a record high of 2 trillion yuan (HK$2.16 trillion) in the first quarter, up by 12 percent from a year ago. This figure was also the strongest in 11 quarters.

Meanwhile, workers in Singapore can now ask for a four-day work week, more work-from-home days and staggered work timings starting from December 1, underscoring the global trend of governments and companies relaxing office arrangements in order to retain talent.