Land of the falling yen could tempt Hongkongers to spend in Japan instead of city as country’s currency hits 34-year low against US dollar
- Warning comes as yen hits 34-year low of 156.82 against US dollar after Bank of Japan held interest rates close to zero
- But city experts said they did not expect the economy to take major hit as the downward trend has been evident for a while
A plunging Japanese yen could further hit spending in the city as more Hongkongers could be tempted to visit the country after its currency hit a 34-year-old low on Friday, retail sector representatives and economists have warned.
But the experts said they did not expect the effects to be drastic as the downward trend in the yen had been evident for some time, although some appealed to the government to step up efforts to attract more tourists from emerging markets.
They were speaking as the yen hit its lowest level against the US dollar in more than three decades after the Bank of Japan held interest rates at close to zero.
The Japanese currency was last at 156.67 to the US dollar, after it briefly sat at 154.97, having hit minutes earlier its lowest level of 156.82 since 1990.
Steve Huen Kwok-chuen, the executive director of city travel agency EGL Tours, said the number of people signed up for tours to Japan had increased by 20 per cent compared with last year because of the yen’s weakness.
