H.K. people pessimistic about 2009: poll

HONG KONG, Dec. 31 Kyodo -
Hong Kong people have gone from being mostly optimistic about 2008 to mostly
pessimistic about 2009 due to the anticipated high jobless rate amid weak
market sentiment, an international poll said Wednesday.
The TNS Gallup International End of Year Poll, conducted by Swiss-based Gallup
International and pollster TNS, showed that only 17 percent of the 1,013 Hong
Kong people surveyed think that 2009 will be better than 2008, compared with 71
percent surveyed last year who expected a better 2008 than 2007.
The poll said the sentiment of local people has been ''severely dented by the
global financial crisis that erupted during mid-2008.''
Two-thirds of those surveyed expect 2009 to be worse, the same percentage as in
Iceland, a country on the verge of going bankrupt under the crisis.
Only 5 percent of people believe 2009 will be a year of economic prosperity,
compared with 58 percent in last year's poll, while 84 percent expect the
jobless rate to rise compared with 19 percent a year ago.
Hong Kong's jobless rate has been growing steadily from 3.2 percent in August
to 3.8 percent in November. Banks have forecast a higher jobless rate of
between 5 and 6 percent in 2009.
Following Hong Kong and Iceland, other top pessimists include
Singapore, Ireland and Greece. Top optimists included U.N.-administered Kosovo, a
few unnamed major Chinese cities, Australia, Lebanon and Colombia.
The survey interviewed 45,700 people in 46 countries and regions.
==Kyodo