PHILA SIU PHILA.SIU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Monday, 02 November, 2015, 5:09pm
UPDATED : Monday, 02 November, 2015, 5:09pm
More than 60 per cent of the interviewed small- and medium enterprises feels Hong Kong is in an “economic winter season”. Photo: Reuters
Fourth-quarter business sentiment among Hong Kong’s small- and medium-sized enterprises has dropped to its lowest in three years, according to an index released today.
The Standard Chartered Hong Kong SME Leading Business Index dropped 5.2 points from the third quarter of this year to 44.4. Readings below 50 indicate a pessimistic business sentiment and readings above 50 show optimism.
“Under the impacts of the volatile global economy, the strong Hong Kong dollar and economic slowdown in China, local SMEs are hard hit,” said Gordon Lo, director of business management at the Productivity Council, which conducted the survey.
“To ride out the adversity, SMEs should start with process innovation, by re-examining and streamlining their business processes and operation models in order to raise efficiency and seize new opportunities.”
The pollsters interviewed more than 806 SMEs between September and last month.
More than 60 per cent of the respondents agreed the city was in an “economic winter season”, while 24 per cent said the current business climate was worse than the financial crisis of 2008.
Among those who described the city’s economy as being in “winter”, 71 per cent did not have measures in place to address the challenges while 8 per cent planned to lay off staff.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1874967/business-mood-among-hong-kongs-smes-lowest-3-years-poll-finds
