OREANDA-NEWS. The Hong Kong government will soon intend to initiate a new, fourth in recent months package of measures to stimulate the economy in the context of its weakening due to mass protests. This was reported to reporters on Tuesday by the head of the local administration, Carrie Lam.

"After the adoption of three packages of measures to support the economy from August to October, the Secretary of Finance [the Minister of Finance will soon initiate the fourth package of measures", the head of administration said. She did not specify what specific steps will be discussed and how much is planned to be allocated. The details are expected to be clarified later by Secretary of Finance (Secretary of the Treasury) Paul Chan.

"Statistics show that the Hong Kong economy was in a difficult situation", said the head of the executive branch. So, according to her, the volume of retail sales in October fell by 24.3% year on year, which was a record high. Lam also expressed concern about the prospects for further growth in unemployment, the level of which has already risen from 2.8% to 3.1%.

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Paul Chang said that amid a worsening economic situation, Hong Kong might face a budget deficit for the first time in 15 years, while GDP growth would lose 2 percentage points.