Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's Chief Executive, said on Tuesday Oct. 29 that she expected the city to record negative economic growth for the full year of 2019.

Her comments came after an earlier statement made by Financial Secretary Paul Chan, who said that the Special Administrative Region was unlikely to achieve any growth this year.

Lam: The situation is grim

While Chan said it would be "extremely difficult" for Hong Kong to achieve the target of 0-1 per cent positive growth, Lam said it was not possible according to the latest assessment.

Said Lam, according to Reuters:

"Our current assessment is that the full year of 2019 will likely show negative growth, which means we won’t be able to achieve the already revised down positive growth of 0-1%. The situation is very grim."

Lam's government announced relief measures worth HK$2 billion (S$348 million) last week, on top of a HK$19.1 billion (S$3.32 billion) package in August 2019 to boost the economy.

She announced that the government will take more steps to support the economy once the unrest has settled down, but did not elaborate on the details.

Beijing is backing Lam

Earlier in Oct, China's foreign ministry also dispelled rumours of Carrie Lam being replaced and added that the central government "firmly supports" Lam in restoring order as soon as possible.

However, the unrest continues. Sunday (Oct. 27) saw protesters setting fire to shops and hurling petrol bombs at police, who responded with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.

Tourist numbers have declined by nearly 50 per cent and worsening in October.

The city has also seen record declines in retail sales, as well as rising unemployment and bankruptcies.

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Top image from Carrie Lam's Facebook page.