Hong Kong  - Sixty-four per cent of Hong Kong residents believe tougher economic times lie ahead because of the global financial meltdown, according to a survey released Monday.

Only 3 per cent of the 1,000 people interviewed said they thought the economy would improve in the short-term while 32 per cent said they expected it to neither improve or deteriorate.

More than 60 per cent of respondents in the poll by Hong Kong's City University also said they were worried there would be further price falls in the stock and property markets in the months ahead.

Interviewees in the former British colony said their biggest concerns were their families, the environment and personal financial security with a much lower percentage citing political freedoms.

Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, has been hit hard by the global economic slowdown with share prices plunging more than 25 per cent since late September. (dpa)