HONG KONG

Growth Forecast Unchanged: The government said it estimates the territory’s real gross domestic product grew by between 5.0% and 5.5% in the first quarter of the year after a 5.1% growth rate in the last quarter of last year. In its first-quarter economic report, the government said its forecast for a real GDP growth rate of 5.5% for 1993 has been reviewed but remains unchanged. Its forecast for the territory’s inflation rate is also unchanged at 9.5%, even though the inflation rate in the first four months of the year was only an average 8.5%. The report warns that the strengthening of the Japanese yen and the upsurge in inflation in China in recent months could lead to higher inflation.