CE Wrong On Economy, Say Pan-democrats

The pan-democratic camp has condemned remarks by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who warned that protests were undermining Hong Kong's economy and causing worse economic disruption than the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.

The camp said it was shameful for Lam to criticise protesters for the economic problems rather than taking responsibility for her own government's failings in its attempt to introduce changes to the extradition law that proved deeply unpopular.

Accountancy sector lawmaker Kenneth Leung said: "The brutality of the police in storming shopping malls, the terror attack in Yuen Long: these are the main factors which deter Hong Kong consumers to consume in restaurants and to go to to shops to buy. And also, the figures quoted are really, really short-term figures."

They say sectors such as tourism, catering and retail will be able to rebound quickly, though the effects of the Sino-US trade war are likely to be felt more deeply.

Earlier, Lam described the economic slump as being like a "tsunami hitting Hong Kong" and said some radical protesters "had no stake in society."