Hong Kong's economy is expected to grow by 4-5 percent in 2010, John Tsang, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Wednesday.

Delivering the budget proposals for the fiscal year 2010-11 at a Legislative Council meeting, Tsang said the Hong Kong economy grew by 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, but still contracted by 2.7 percent for the year as a whole.

"I am cautiously optimistic about Hong Kong's economic prospects for 2010," he said.

Tsang said that he expected the employment situation to further improve, and that the underlying inflation rate for 2010 as a whole will be about 1.5 percent while the average rate of headline inflation is expected to be 2.3 percent.

There remained uncertainties and potential pitfalls in the external environment. It remains uncertain whether some of the economies can grow robustly after the effects of the huge stimulus measures have subsided, he said.

Nevertheless, the return to a stronger growth in the mainland economy may help offset the fragile recovery in overseas markets, he added.