Hong Kong forecasts average growth rate of 2.8% from 2021-2024

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's economy is expected to expand at an average growth rate of 2.8% in real terms from 2021-2024, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Wednesday, as he announced his budget for the Asia financial hub.

Chan also forecast 2020 gross domestic product to range between a contraction of 1.5% and growth of 0.5%.

Hong Kong's open and trade-reliant economy has been buffeted by risks, including the shock of often-violent protests in the second half of last year and the outbreak of a coronavirus in the beginning of this year.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Shri Navaratnam)