For struggling Hong Kong firms, rent cuts and return to peace more valuable than latest relief measures

Fourth round of measures, worth about HK$4 billion, primarily involve subsidies on utility bills and allow qualified individuals and firms to pay tax in instalments

But company bosses say what they really need are cut rents from landlords and a normal operating environment after nearly six months of unrest

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Tourist arrivals have taken a big hit since the protests broke out in Hong Kong. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 9:00am, 5 Dec 2019Updated: 9:33pm, 5 Dec 2019

Although companies in Hong Kong have welcomed the government’s latest measures to ease the economic pain arising from the combined effects of ongoing protests and the US-China trade war, they also say the benefits are a drop in the bucket.

Three players in the food and catering industry and a retailer the Post interviewed on Wednesday said the sweeteners were insufficient to cushion the loss of business arising from a worsening tourism slump and recession. They called on landlords to cut rents and for peace to return to society.

The government’s latest measures, worth about HK$4 billion (US$512 million), primarily involve subsidies on utility bills and allow qualified individuals and companies to pay tax bills in instalments.

“The relief measures are helpful in the short term, but the largest costs are rent and salaries,” said Samme Cheng Pak-man, who supplies lunchboxes to schools. “The most practical help is to get society back to peace and a normal operating environment.”

The food and beverage industry in Hong Kong has taken a battering. Photo: Nora Tam

On Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed the fourth round of measures, which aim to help ease the cash-flow burden on taxpayers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A key measure will see the government pay 75 per cent of commercial users’ electricity bills for the next four months to March 31, capped at HK$5,000 per month.