PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - Feb 26
HONG KONG, Feb 26(Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- Macau's gross gaming revenue this month is set to drop 50 percent from a year ago, analysts say, as initial data from the first few days of the Lunar New Year, a peak season for mainland gamblers, showed a much weaker performance than anticipated. (http://bit.ly/17Zoq4y)
-- Tourists from the mainland made more than five million trips abroad during the Lunar New Year holiday, a 10 percent rise on the same period last year. China National Tourism Administration said the increase was partly prompted by favourable exchange rates and eased visa policies for Chinese visitors. (http://bit.ly/1FuBgmg)
THE STANDARD
-- Details of a government proposal for a Future Fund of at least HK$220 billion ($28.37 billion) will be unveiled on Monday. In committing to the savings war chest, Financial Secretary John Tsang said it can be used for infrastructure projects, even when budgets are in deficit, as well as to reduce the impact from an aging population. (http://bit.ly/1Et8lkB)
-- Beijing has already reached a decision on the number of times a person with a multiple-entry permit may visit Hong Kong, according to local NPC deputy Michael Tien Puk-sun. In a radio interview, Tien said Beijing and the Hong Kong government agreed on 52 visits last year but had suspended implementing the quota due to dissatisfaction with the city's retail sector. (http://bit.ly/1alTlcZ)
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- The number of small- to medium-size flats in Hong Kong sold by mainlanders accounted for 4.6 percent of the total transaction volume in 2014, up 1.1 percentage point from the previous year, according to Centaline Property Agency research director Wong Leung Sing, suggesting mainlanders are unloading their assets in the red hot local property market.
MING PAO DAILY
-- China's retail sales and restaurants turnover during the first six days of the Lunar New Year amounted to 678 billion yuan ($108.32 billion), up 11 percent from the same period a year ago, in their slowest growth since 2010, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
For Chinese newspapers, see............... ($1 = 7.7557 Hong Kong dollars) ($1 = 6.2593 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Sunil Nair)
