Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po (right) delivers the annual budget at the legislative council in Hong Kong on Feb 26, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG - With a warming economy in the first quarter, Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, expects the jobless rate of the financial hub would continue to drop during the past three months.

In an online article published on Sunday, Chan said the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate to be released soon would go down significantly as the economy has been improving and the epidemic situation has been under control.

The gross domestic product of Hong Kong gained 7.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, ending contraction that had lasted for six consecutive quarters

Hong Kong's jobless rate retreated from 7.2 percent to 6.8 percent in the first three months, according to the Census and Statistics Department. The figure for the February-April period will come out on Thursday.

The gross domestic product of Hong Kong gained 7.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, ending contraction that had lasted for six consecutive quarters.

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Chan said the economy rebounded strongly but the prospects of the labor market still depend on whether the epidemic will be further controlled, calling residents to actively participate in the vaccination program.

The finance chief also stressed the significance of the green economy to Hong Kong's sustainable development in his article.

More than US$38 billion of green bonds were issued in Hong Kong from 2015 to 2020 by institutions from all over the world, Chan said, quoting a report of the Climate Bonds Initiative, a not-for-profit international organization. In 2020 alone, mainland institutions contributed 60 percent of Hong Kong's US$12 billion of green bonds and loans.

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The HKSAR government will continue to bolster the green finance and push for a low-carbon transition of the financial hub, Chan said.

Hong Kong is expected to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 as vowed by the government.