London (CNN Business) Hong Kong is pumping billions of dollars into its economy in a bid to avert a recession as the city's political crisis disrupts business and slams financial markets.

The government announced a stimulus package worth about 19 billion Hong Kong dollars ($2.4 billion) Thursday to help safeguard jobs and provide relief to "people's financial burden."

Hong Kong's economy grew by just 0.6% in the second quarter , the weakest rate in a decade. Compared with the first quarter of 2019, GDP shrank by 0.3%. A contraction in the July-September quarter would tip the city of about 7 million people into recession.

Mass pro-democracy protests have been taking place for 10 straight weeks, disrupting business, forcing the cancellation this week of nearly 1,000 flights, and scaring investors in Asia's premier financial hub.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan told reporters that Hong Kong's faltering economy — already suffering from China's slowdown and the trade war — had received a further blow from "recent social incidents." The government slashed its forecast for economic growth in 2019 to between 0% and 1%.

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