https://www.scmp.com/rss/503849/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Hong Kong’s legislature on Wednesday passed the administration’s budget in record time, including a HK$120 billion (US$15.4 billion) package that contains electronic vouchers, low-interest loans and a raft of measures aimed at relieving the financial burdens created by the coronavirus pandemic. With the debate lasting just eight hours, the budget bill was passed with 40 pro-establishment lawmakers voting “yes” and localist Cheng Chung-tai voting “no”. Financial services sector lawmaker... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3131401/hong-kong-budget-sails-through-legco-record-time-pro?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3131401/hong-kong-budget-sails-through-legco-record-time-pro?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Apr 2021 06:30:55 +0000 After Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po proposed in the 2021-22 financial budget to increase the stamp duty on stock transactions, some critics suggested the move would decrease stock market turnover and take its toll on Hong Kong’s initial public offering market (“Why Hong Kong’s higher stock trading tax has solid support”, March 27). However, these worries seem overblown given the market’s unparalleled appeal to Chinese companies. Hong Kong has long been a popular listing destination for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3128903/why-hong-kong-trumps-shanghai-and-shenzhen-despite-raising-tax?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3128903/why-hong-kong-trumps-shanghai-and-shenzhen-despite-raising-tax?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Apr 2021 23:30:18 +0000 In just over two weeks, Singapore, Hong Kong and Britain will, by the middle of this week, have unveiled budget packages that in normal times would have been catastrophic. The US Congress has passed a US$1.9 trillion economic aid package. Almost all governments worldwide are staring at similar unprecedented red arithmetic, with no clear timetable to return to the black. All are wrestling with extraordinary economic contractions and record levels of unemployment. While Hong Kong and Singapore are... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3123431/coronavirus-pandemic-budgets-best-relief-measure-would-be-take?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3123431/coronavirus-pandemic-budgets-best-relief-measure-would-be-take?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:30:12 +0000 A long-term strategic plan to achieve carbon neutrality in Hong Kong by 2050 would be unveiled by the middle of this year, the city’s finance chief said on Sunday, as he vowed to tap into the opportunities brought on by the “green wave”. Last year, the Council for Sustainable Development, which advises the government on environmental matters, formulated 55 recommendations covering sectors such as energy generation, transport and urban design after drawing on more than 71,000 responses to a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3120890/hong-kongs-financial-chief-promises-release?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3120890/hong-kongs-financial-chief-promises-release?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Feb 2021 07:19:13 +0000 Hong Kong moved closer on Wednesday to launching an unprecedented HK$22.4 billion (US$2.9 billion) investment vehicle with six non-officials appointed to helm the initiative. The administration had identified top executives from sectors such as innovation and technology, as well as banking and commerce for a term of two years from October 1. They will become members of the governance committee for the investment drive. The group will serve as high-level advisers to provide strategic steering for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3103734/hong-kong-closer-launching-unprecedented-hk224?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3103734/hong-kong-closer-launching-unprecedented-hk224?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Sep 2020 12:37:36 +0000 Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po faces a monumental challenge as he looks ahead to the 2021 budget. It will probably be the hardest task anyone in his position has faced since the end of the second world war. At its core, the budget builds on three things: a mid-range economic growth forecast, new spending proposals and new revenue proposals. On all three counts, Chan is in very serious trouble, as all the currents are against him. The economic growth forecast is critical because it... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3102130/hardest-budget-hong-kong-has-ever-had-produce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3102130/hardest-budget-hong-kong-has-ever-had-produce?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2020 01:15:14 +0000 Another batch of some 356,000 Hongkongers can expect to start receiving the HK$10,000 (US$1,290) cash handout from Wednesday, five days ahead of the original schedule, the government has announced. But the early relief may not be possible for some of those living in Wong Tai Sin district, an area hard hit by the latest wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in the city. Delays can be expected for those Wong Tai Sin residents who had submitted registration forms to Hongkong Post as the seven post offices... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3095024/more-350000-hongkongers-will-get-their-hk10000-handout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3095024/more-350000-hongkongers-will-get-their-hk10000-handout?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2020 10:08:23 +0000 Millions of Hongkongers could get their HK$10,000 (US$1,290) cash handout two days earlier than expected after more than 70 per cent of the city’s population registered for the sweetener. The government’s cash payout scheme, which opened for applications on June 21, received more than 5.5 million registrations by 5pm on Thursday, with 85 per cent made online through banks. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the scheme had been running smoothly over the past two weeks and the percentage of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3091719/hongkongers-could-get-hk10000-handout-earlier?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3091719/hongkongers-could-get-hk10000-handout-earlier?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jul 2020 08:33:59 +0000 At last, the government’s one-off cash handouts of HK$10,000 to an estimated 7 million adult permanent Hong Kong residents is ready for distribution. We took the initiative to launch a pilot study inviting 35 individuals who were willing to pre-donate their HK$10,000 handout to needy families recommended by school principals. The donors were informed where the money went, and recipients sent a thank-you note to the donors to increase the connectedness between the two. Before the handout was... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3089054/spread-joy-hong-kong-donate-your-hk10000-handout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3089054/spread-joy-hong-kong-donate-your-hk10000-handout?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jun 2020 23:00:10 +0000 Hong Kong’s de facto central bank will begin choosing the private equity funds that will help manage the city’s unprecedented new HK$22 billion (US$2.8 billion) investment vehicle by the second half of the year, the financial secretary has told the Post. In an exclusive interview, Paul Chan Mo-po updated the progress in setting up the Hong Kong Growth Portfolio, which will see government-formed committees oversee the fund’s investments and governance and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority select... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3088870/selection-fund-managers-help-run-hong-kongs-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3088870/selection-fund-managers-help-run-hong-kongs-new?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jun 2020 14:00:13 +0000 Eligible Hong Kong permanent residents will be able to apply for the government’s HK$10,000 (US$1,290) cash handout from June 21 with the first payments to be made as early as July 8, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced on Monday. The scheme, which is available to adult Hongkongers, will be open until the end of next year so people who do not turn 18 until then can still apply. “The quickest way to get paid is through electronic registration with banks,” Chan said. “I hope people will... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3087965/hong-kong-permanent-residents-can-apply-hk10000?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3087965/hong-kong-permanent-residents-can-apply-hk10000?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jun 2020 03:21:42 +0000 The policies issued in the latest Hong Kong budget to support enterprises and safeguard jobs may prove useful in boosting the economy in the short run, but they are not sustainable in the long term. Low-interest loans are a relief measure to help entrepreneurs facing financial difficulties and give companies desperately needed capital. The 2020-21 budget also includes a series of expansionary policies. The reduction in rates for profits and non-domestic properties will bring a decrease in net... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3084365/rebuild-hong-kongs-economy-long-term-invest-construction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3084365/rebuild-hong-kongs-economy-long-term-invest-construction?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2020 00:00:10 +0000 Hong Kong’s legislature on Thursday passed the administration’s HK$627 billion (US$80.9 billion) budget containing cash handouts, tax breaks and a raft of subsidies to provide relief during the coronavirus pandemic, but the bill was backed solely by the pro-establishment bloc. As the three-week debate over the bill came to an end, opposition lawmakers continued to level criticism at the police, which they accuse of using excessive force when handling anti-government protests. They also said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3084426/hong-kong-legislature-passes-hk627-billion-budget?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3084426/hong-kong-legislature-passes-hk627-billion-budget?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 May 2020 10:28:29 +0000 Hong Kong’s economy will take a much bigger hit than expected, shrinking by 4 to 7 per cent this year because of the serious and sustained impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the city’s finance chief has warned. Barely two months after making a rosier prediction in his latest budget – when he forecast that gross domestic product (GDP) for the year would shrink by up to 1.5 per cent or grow by up to 0.5 per cent – Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told lawmakers on Wednesday that the city was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3082062/hong-kong-facing-greater-financial-crisis-2018-or?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3082062/hong-kong-facing-greater-financial-crisis-2018-or?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Apr 2020 05:05:48 +0000 Hong Kong needs to broaden its tax base and scrap costly infrastructure projects as the city faces a ballooning deficit due to the economy’s battering by the Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers said on Wednesday. The remarks came as the Legislative Council kicked off a marathon debate over the government’s budget, tabled as the Appropriation Bill. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget, unveiled in a February 26 speech, offered cash handouts, tax breaks and a raft of subsidies in a HK$120 billion... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3081100/coronavirus-hong-kong-budget-debate-begins-lawmaker-calls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3081100/coronavirus-hong-kong-budget-debate-begins-lawmaker-calls?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2020 11:43:29 +0000 With the novel coronavirus outbreak sweeping across the West since March, Hong Kong has seen a second wave of the epidemic. There are now more than 1,000 confirmed cases, after imported infections surged dramatically in March. To contain the virus, the Hong Kong government has imposed measures. Besides giving quarantine orders to almost all arrivals, the government has also banned public gatherings of more than four people, and temporarily closed fitness centres, bars and other entertainment... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3080176/why-carrie-lams-coronavirus-relief-package-friendlier-businesses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3080176/why-carrie-lams-coronavirus-relief-package-friendlier-businesses?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2020 04:00:17 +0000 We refer to the March 17 letter from Mengyuan Li and Zheqi Yan, calling for partial tuition fee refunds on behalf of self-financed master’s students, who lost a significant amount of time on campus due to the extradition bill protests and the coronavirus outbreak. In addition to financial compensation from the universities, we believe the Hong Kong government should also do more to help non-local university students with cash handouts and more flexible immigration arrangements. As your... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3079013/why-hong-kong-should-offer-cash-handouts-non-local-students-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3079013/why-hong-kong-should-offer-cash-handouts-non-local-students-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2020 23:30:12 +0000 If you are down and out, you had best hightail it out of Hong Kong. This city of Rolls-Royce and Gucci bags is the only modern metropolis without a social safety net. Government officials must wrestle with two urgent concerns: “flatten the curve” of infections, and cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus. They are faltering on both counts. The government did buy itself a modicum of goodwill by announcing a HK$10,000 (US$1,300) cash handout for each adult permanent resident. But it will be... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3078738/hong-kongs-paltry-coronavirus-relief-cold-comfort-jobless-and-needy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3078738/hong-kongs-paltry-coronavirus-relief-cold-comfort-jobless-and-needy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2020 23:00:09 +0000 Hong Kong’s embattled leader has dismissed calls from across the political spectrum to take a voluntary pay freeze, after it was revealed her annual salary had increased to HK$5.21 million (US$672,000). Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s 2.36 per cent pay rise, up from HK$5.09 million in the 2019/20 financial year, means she continues to be one of the highest-paid political leaders in the world. In a media briefing on Tuesday morning, Lam was asked if she would heed lawmaker demands to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3078742/carrie-lam-rejects-bipartisan-calls-turn-down-pay-rise-amid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3078742/carrie-lam-rejects-bipartisan-calls-turn-down-pay-rise-amid?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2020 04:59:14 +0000 Life Education Activity Programme (LEAP) is disappointed to learn that the Financial Secretary has decided not to raise tobacco tax in the 2020-21 Budget. Research from around the world has shown that tobacco taxation is highly effective in reducing and preventing tobacco use among young people. Raising cigarette prices through higher taxes prevents young people from taking up tobacco use and motivates young smokers to quit, since they have less income and are therefore more price sensitive than... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3077256/raise-hong-kong-tobacco-tax-protect-youth-against-lifelong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3077256/raise-hong-kong-tobacco-tax-protect-youth-against-lifelong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2020 00:00:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s legislature will meet as scheduled next week to vote on necessary government funding, despite most civil servants being told to work from home amid a spike in Covid-19 cases. The Legislative Council’s secretariat told the Post on Sunday it would convene its regular Wednesday and Thursday weekly meetings, though staff not directly involved would work from home. Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, who made the decision, is expected to make the formal announcement on Monday. Plans... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3076350/legco-vote-temporary-funding-next-week-despite-work-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3076350/legco-vote-temporary-funding-next-week-despite-work-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2020 14:30:56 +0000 After Hong Kong declared a red travel alert over Covid-19, crowds have thinned and the once humming streets are largely empty. Schools are closed. Yet, amid the unruly stampedes for toilet paper, there is an opportunity for this beleaguered city. With citizens’ focus distracted by health and economic fears, the government – while deeply unloved and seen as transitional – has a curious chance to bridge divides and revive the community. Emergencies have a habit of creating common ground, bringing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075962/coronavirus-crisis-creates-common-ground-carrie-lam-has-rare-chance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3075962/coronavirus-crisis-creates-common-ground-carrie-lam-has-rare-chance?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2020 23:00:10 +0000 Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has pointed out that, as land revenue dries up, Hong Kong may face a dilemma between higher taxes or the environment (“Hongkongers to face choice between tax rise and environment, analysts say”, March 3). But this is a false choice, as there are many other ways for the government to raise revenue besides stamp duties. I agree that heavy reliance on stamp duty from property transactions is not healthy and sustainable. Mr Chan is correct that other sources will... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3075112/more-taxes-or-environment-why-hong-kong-should-not-have-make-choice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3075112/more-taxes-or-environment-why-hong-kong-should-not-have-make-choice?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2020 22:55:12 +0000 A police bill of about HK$95 million for water barriers and security equipment to guard the government headquarters during the months-long protests was split among 22 agencies, but this was not listed in the recently released annual budget, the Post has learned. Critics said the “hidden” police expenses undermined the transparency required for using public money. A lawmaker also queried whether the splitting of the bill, through an internal accounting arrangement, was meant to bypass the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3075258/police-bill-about-hk95-million-water-barriers-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3075258/police-bill-about-hk95-million-water-barriers-security?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2020 11:30:15 +0000 Small and medium-sized businesses can tap into loans fully guaranteed by the Hong Kong government as early as the end of next month, as the administration plans to expedite relief measures to rescue an economy battered by the coronavirus epidemic, the city’s finance minister says. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also promised that the government would create more jobs, including temporary employment, to help those out of work get back on their feet. The administration would strive to roll... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3074749/coronavirus-small-firms-hong-kong-get-faster-access-loan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3074749/coronavirus-small-firms-hong-kong-get-faster-access-loan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2020 15:37:05 +0000 It wasn’t so long ago that a video of a 15-year-old girl being attacked by two other teenagers went viral and led to to the arrest of two teens aged 15 and 17. Last week, another case of a 13-year-old boy being attacked by at least 10 people from a teen gang came to light, and two 15-year-olds were arrested. It is never easy to handle teenagers. But it is necessary for the government to pay greater attention to young people, as they are the future of our society. Census data estimates show that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3074317/hong-kong-government-promises-connect-young-people-budget-shows-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3074317/hong-kong-government-promises-connect-young-people-budget-shows-its?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2020 23:35:12 +0000 All the while I have lived in Hong Kong, the price and availability of residential accommodation have been burning issues. Governments come and go, but none seem able to solve the problem of how to put a reasonably priced roof over everyone’s head. As far as newspaper columnists searching for a topic are concerned, this subject just keeps on giving. In the final year of the British administration, I recall, there was a performance pledge attached to the budget to provide 425,000 housing units... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3073954/hong-kong-doesnt-just-need-more-housing-it-must-also-find-more-ways?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3073954/hong-kong-doesnt-just-need-more-housing-it-must-also-find-more-ways?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2020 01:00:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s finance minister has warned that the coronavirus crisis will take its toll on global economies, pointing to how some analysts have downgraded growth projections for the year. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday he hoped the measures announced in his annual budget speech last month, amounting to HK$120 billion (US$15.4 billion) in public spending, would help the city retain its economic vibrancy. The coronavirus, which causes the deadly Covid-19 disease, has infected... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3074134/coronavirus-crisis-hit-economies-worldwide-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3074134/coronavirus-crisis-hit-economies-worldwide-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2020 07:33:35 +0000 Hong Kong chef Wong Bing-kuen, 62, visits one restaurant after another looking for a job during the day, and sleeps on the upper deck of a bunk bed at night. Wong, a chef for more than 40 years, lost his job last month after the Ho Yin Seafood Restaurant at Laguna Plaza in Lam Tin where he worked suspended operations because of the coronavirus epidemic. He says he has changed jobs about five times since last June, when the anti-government protests started, hurting his industry. The coronavirus... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3074082/unemployment-worlds-most-expensive-city-soars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3074082/unemployment-worlds-most-expensive-city-soars?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2020 01:00:10 +0000 As the number of new Covid-19 cases in China slows, the fast spread of the coronavirus elsewhere has become a major worry. South Korea has the largest Covid-19 outbreak outside China, while infections in Italy and Iran have jumped in recent weeks, with reports of community spread in Europe and the United States. Concerns of a looming Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a sharp response from investors in the past few weeks. The sell-off in global equity markets deepened, while the yield on the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3065067/asia-must-brace-short-term-volatility-covid-19-hits-china-and-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3065067/asia-must-brace-short-term-volatility-covid-19-hits-china-and-south?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2020 08:00:12 +0000 While it is commendable that the Hong Kong government plans to hand out subsidies to businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak, the aid should come with a condition that they do not lay off workers. Business owners make profit in good times and losses in bad times. It is a part of the business cycle. Getting subsidies from the government while laying off workers at the same time is not right. The government should look after the weakest group in the society, that is, low-skilled workers... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064943/if-hong-kong-taxpayers-must-fund-businesses-hit-coronavirus-scare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064943/if-hong-kong-taxpayers-must-fund-businesses-hit-coronavirus-scare?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 23:40:11 +0000 Although the 2020-21 budget announced last week included resources for education and the promotion of youth upward mobility, and caring for society, Hong Kong Unison is concerned that those from the ethnic minorities may face difficulties when accessing such initiatives. The government has set aside HK$1 billion to support the work of the Youth Development Commission, HK$300 million of which has gone into the Youth Development Fund to support youth entrepreneurship and promote upward... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064649/where-does-budget-support-hong-kong-youth-leave-those-ethnic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064649/where-does-budget-support-hong-kong-youth-leave-those-ethnic?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2020 22:50:08 +0000 A HK$10,000 handout for permanent residents will be extended to some of the hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers who have recently moved to the city, the government revealed on Tuesday. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said new arrivals on low incomes would be entitled to the one-off payment through a trust fund designed to plug gaps in the flagship policy from last week’s budget. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced last Wednesday a HK$10,000 (US$1,285) handout for every... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3064777/hong-kong-government-extends-hk10000-handout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3064777/hong-kong-government-extends-hk10000-handout?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2020 09:28:17 +0000 Residents will face a difficult choice between paying more tax or supporting a big reclamation project in future, analysts believe, with the Hong Kong government’s land revenue expected to drop as fewer than 20 prime development sites remain. The suggestions came after last week’s budget, where Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed land sale revenues would drop by 16.6 per cent to HK$118 billion, while the average annual infrastructural expenditure, which is funded by that money, was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3064591/higher-taxes-or-environment-hongkongers-likely?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3064591/higher-taxes-or-environment-hongkongers-likely?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2020 00:00:13 +0000 In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has announced a HK$120 billion relief deal, including cash handouts of HK$10,000 for all adult permanent residents. As the people of Hubei are facing long-term battles against the coronavirus outbreak and enormous economic losses caused by the lockdown, we urge the Hong Kong government to donate HK$500 million to the Hubei provincial government through the Disaster Relief Fund. Since its establishment in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064602/coronavirus-epidemic-time-hong-kong-show-hard-hit-hubei-it-cares?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3064602/coronavirus-epidemic-time-hong-kong-show-hard-hit-hubei-it-cares?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2020 23:15:11 +0000 Hong Kong’s police chief insisted on Monday the force needed the drastic increase to its budget revealed last week to counter the “new normal” of petrol bomb attacks and the threat of local terrorism. Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung also said the force had reprimanded 21 officers after launching its own misconduct investigations into the anti-government protests that erupted in June last year, as he pledged greater transparency in city policing. Tang defended the bumper increase... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3064632/hong-kong-police-chief-says-bumper-budget-increase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3064632/hong-kong-police-chief-says-bumper-budget-increase?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2020 10:00:54 +0000 As Hong Kong is engulfed by the perfect storm of the trade war between the United States and China, self-immolating upheavals linked with the extradition idiocy, and the Covid-19 panic sweeping the world, my conviction is reinforced that the heart of Hong Kong’s long-festering challenge is not erosion of freedoms, lack of access to good housing, or even low minimum wages and gross inequality. No, at heart, our main challenge is job insecurity. The past year has placed the livelihoods of tens of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3053034/hong-kongs-moment-crisis-exposing-its-true-challenge-chronic-job?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3053034/hong-kongs-moment-crisis-exposing-its-true-challenge-chronic-job?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2020 22:00:05 +0000 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” the classic line from English literature goes, and that’s what Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po must be feeling after rolling out his spending blueprint for Hong Kong. His budget offered a HK$120 billion relief package, the biggest since the city returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. It was an extraordinarily tough fiscal balancing act for Chan, with the city’s economy reeling from the combined impacts of the US-China trade war, months... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3053069/careful-what-you-wish-hong-kong-not-singapore-when-it-comes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3053069/careful-what-you-wish-hong-kong-not-singapore-when-it-comes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2020 09:01:14 +0000 Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has once again showed extraordinary talent in avoiding a lot of the flak his boss and teammates have had to brave. For one, Chan made sure he repeated all the right tactics he employed in the 2019-2020 budget, particularly managing expectations. And boy, manage public expectations he did this year. In the run-up to his budget speech, Chan made sure to talk a fair bit about our “finite resources” and to warn us about the impact of a huge deficit in the current... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052855/hong-kongs-financial-secretary-proves-hes-cut-above-his-boss-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052855/hong-kongs-financial-secretary-proves-hes-cut-above-his-boss-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2020 04:00:17 +0000 A multimillion-dollar plan to retain talent at Hong Kong’s public hospitals has received a lukewarm response from the city’s health sector, with experts blaming political rows, the coronavirus outbreak and various management issues for a growing manpower crunch. In his annual budget announced on Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po raised the allocation for health by HK$9.8 billion (US$1.2 billion), totalling HK$97.7 billion amid the spread of the virus, which by Saturday had infected... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3053020/multimillion-dollar-plan-not-enough-retain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3053020/multimillion-dollar-plan-not-enough-retain?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Feb 2020 23:00:15 +0000 I am writing in response to the article, “Hong Kong budget to hit record deficit of HK$139 million” (February 26). The government has been generous this year, but it does not take much to realise the purpose of the cash handouts and relief measures in the budget. Over the past several years, our usually stingy government hoarded money instead of improving the livelihood of the people or addressing long-standing social issues, such as the housing problem and the needs of the ageing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3052820/budget-cash-handouts-and-other-relief-measures-fail-address-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3052820/budget-cash-handouts-and-other-relief-measures-fail-address-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Feb 2020 22:35:13 +0000 From the budget handouts, it looks like our government is trying to buy itself out of public mistrust. It hands out HK$10,000 to each permanent resident and hopes we will indeed spend it this summer so that it goes straight into the economy. This is wishful thinking. Can we really believe that the money which is collected by Hong Kong permanent residents who live overseas will be spent here? Or even that those of us who already have enough money will channel the HK$10,000 straight into the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3052640/hong-kong-budget-cash-handout-hk10000-each-all-hongkongers-rich-or?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3052640/hong-kong-budget-cash-handout-hk10000-each-all-hongkongers-rich-or?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2020 22:50:07 +0000 Hong Kong’s police force will soon have a dedicated bureau specialising in financial investigations, along with a doubling of the number of detectives qualified to handle them, as the city steps up an ongoing crackdown on money laundering and terrorist financing, the Post has learned. A government source familiar with plans for the new Financial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau emphasised it had been in the works for more than a decade and was unrelated to the social unrest that had rocked... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3052748/hong-kongs-police-force-budget-boost-unlocks-creation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3052748/hong-kongs-police-force-budget-boost-unlocks-creation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2020 12:28:14 +0000 Credit rating agency S&P Credit Ratings warned on Thursday that Hong Kong’s looming record deficit would weaken its fiscal health, while growing social spending driven by increasingly tough challenges facing the city would only worsen the situation. The American firm forecast the economy would shrink 1 per cent this year – after contracting 1.2 per cent last year – due to a combination of the US-China trade war, violent social unrest and the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The epidemic alone would... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3052729/sp-expects-gradual-weakening-hong-kong-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3052729/sp-expects-gradual-weakening-hong-kong-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2020 11:02:14 +0000 Hong Kong’s finance minister has dismissed a proposal by lawmakers to seek approval for the HK$10,000 (US$1,283) cash handout separately from other issues in the government budget, such as a plan to boost police funding. At a Legislative Council Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, Paul Chan Mo-po rejected calls from two major political parties to pull the handout scheme from the appropriation bill, which contains funding applications for all measures announced in the budget a day... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3052690/hong-kong-finance-minister-shoots-down-lawmakers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3052690/hong-kong-finance-minister-shoots-down-lawmakers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2020 08:36:40 +0000 Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has exceeded giveaway expectations in his budget – all the more impressive as it is the most proactive move to come out of the government in the past decade. The icing on the cake is that the handouts reach the lower levels of society – something government budgets have dodged for decades. Perhaps he has been listening to the old investment manager’s mantra, which is, “if you are going to panic, then panic early”. For it does seem the right thing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052498/paul-chans-big-spending-budget-right-hong-kong-our-rainy-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052498/paul-chans-big-spending-budget-right-hong-kong-our-rainy-day?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2020 08:00:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s finance minister has defended eligibility rules for a HK$10,000 cash handout he announced on Wednesday, as residents criticised the exclusion of new immigrants while Hongkongers who have left the city stand to benefit. Under the measure, part of Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s HK$120 billion (US$15 billion) relief package, each adult permanent resident will be given HK$10,000. Chan called the giveaway – with a total cost of HK$71.1 billion – an “exceptional measure taken in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3052608/hong-kong-budget-anger-city-residents-abroad-due-cash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3052608/hong-kong-budget-anger-city-residents-abroad-due-cash?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2020 04:17:16 +0000 Confronted by what he described as “unique circumstances”, Hong Kong’s finance minister unveiled a big-spending budget on Wednesday that included a major cash handout and generous measures for all businesses. Will it do the job of lifting the economy out of its current doldrums, after being pummelled by the triple threat of the United States-China trade war, the months-long anti-government protests and the coronavirus outbreak? At first blush, the HK$120 billion relief package is eye-catching... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3052549/coronavirus-protests-trade-war-can-paul-chans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3052549/coronavirus-protests-trade-war-can-paul-chans?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2020 00:05:12 +0000 The Hong Kong government’s decision to go into the red this year – and for the next five – has sparked calls from financial experts for it to come up with a more comprehensive strategy to seek other revenue streams and identify new areas of economic growth. Some warned that the city was facing a structural deficit a year earlier than government advisers had predicted, despite denials from the finance chief on Wednesday. Economists in the government’s Working Group on Long-Term Fiscal Planning... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3052556/hong-kong-budget-years-deficits-looming-city-must?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3052556/hong-kong-budget-years-deficits-looming-city-must?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2020 23:05:07 +0000 Desperate times call for desperate measures. Despite an array of immediate relief and long-term recovery initiatives, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po knew perfectly well that his fourth budget would have been a non-starter if he had not handed out an exceptional HK$10,000 (US$1,280) cash sweetener to every permanent resident of Hong Kong. For a city battered by an escalating epidemic after prolonged civil unrest and the United States-China trade war, juggling fiscal prudence and an economic... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052552/budget-offers-chance-hong-kong-emerge-stronger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3052552/budget-offers-chance-hong-kong-emerge-stronger?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2020 15:30:51 +0000