Hong Kong’s retail sales plummeted 13.8% in March, the first back-to-back contraction in more than a year as stringent virus restrictions weighed heavily on the economy and crushed consumer spending. The fall in sales value from the prior year was worse than the median estimate of a 12.6% decline expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey, though it was less than the 14.6% drop in February. Sales volume fell 16.8% from a year ago, the Census and Statistics Department said Thursday, roughly in line with economist expectations. The February-March period was the first time since the end of 2020-into-2021 that retail sales declined for two straight months, as the city imposed strict social curbs — including a ban on dining-in after […]