Coronavirus: promises of transparency in Hong Kong wage subsidy scheme, amid fears of abuse of Covid-19 relief measure
- Giants such as HSBC, MTR Corp and Jockey Club say they will not make use of the salary plan, but major developers yet to declare their intentions
- Government promises transparency, but source says it will not discourage applications from big companies
Officials have promised high transparency when Hong Kong employers dip into the government’s HK$80 billion (US$10.25 billion) wage subsidy scheme to keep paying some 1.5 million workers through the coronavirus crisis, amid concerns about possible abuse and confusion over details of implementation.
Some major companies on Thursday were already declaring their intention to pass on the offer of having the government pay up to 50 per cent of salaries for their workers, capped at HK$9,000 (US$1,160) month.
Hours before the latest infection figures were revealed to suggest an improving situation, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong was on a radio show, reassuring listeners that the government would try to be highly transparent in matters such as identifying companies seeking funds and disclosing the amounts they received.
“Transparency is important. We will try our best to publish all sorts of data,” he said. “We need a mechanism to conduct checks.”
Even as a senior adviser to the government called on bigger companies with the capacity to sustain greater damage to let smaller and needier business operators avail themselves of the scheme first, power supplier CLP Holdings, banking giant HSBC and the Hong Kong Jockey Club, as well as rail giant the MTR Corporation, declared they would not apply for the subsidy.