My Take | Rainy day budget offers Hong Kong shelter from pain
- It aims to contain the damage caused by the Omicron variant and made worse by the misguided health policies of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor
Call it the “rainy day” budget. The latest annual financial plan aims to contain the damage caused by the Omicron variant and made worse by the misguided health policies of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
The pandemic has, unavoidably, dealt a blow to the local economy. Tough but ineffective policies have demoralised the populace. This budget has been designed to lessen the pain and offer a morale boost to the economy and the public; hence its massive sweeteners and slew of business-protective measures.
His predecessors always claimed to be saving for a rainy day by building up massive reserves; thankfully, Paul Chan Mo-po has recognised that it’s not raining but pouring. With an anticipated surplus of HK$18.8 billion in the financial year 2021-22, instead of a projected HK$101.6 billion deficit, he has more room to manoeuvre.
The expected economic rebound in the second half of this year will help, along with a projected growth of 2 to 3.5 per cent in real terms for the whole 12 months.
Totalling HK$170 billion, the latest relief package is more than double the size of sweeteners from Chan’s last budget. As expected, everyone gets a new round of HK$10,000 e-vouchers, to boost local consumption.
A groundbreaking measure will allow taxpayers to deduct rents, something some commentators including yours truly have suggested over the years.