Protest starting to weigh on Hong Kong's economy

[LONDON] The "umbrella revolution" is starting to weigh on Hong Kong's domestic economy as protests escalate but the real concern is over the city's status as an international financial hub.

Transport has been disrupted, banks have shut and business trips have been cancelled in a region of seven million people with an economy as big as Chile, Egypt or the Philippines.

If the protests continue, "tourism and retail, which together account for around 10 per cent of the territory's GDP (gross domestic product) would be badly affected", said Gareth Leather from the Capital Economics research firm in London.