Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announces fourth round of relief measures for economy battered by anti-government protests
- Officials to ‘target businesses and sectors that are facing difficulties’
- GDP is forecast to contract this year, with government coffers on course for first budget deficit in 15 years
Hong Kong’s embattled leader said on Tuesday that officials would soon roll out a fourth round of relief measures after the city recorded its biggest retail slump on record amid ongoing social unrest, and with the government on course for its first budget deficit in 15 years.
“We will target businesses and sectors that are facing difficulties and offer them relief,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said before her weekly cabinet meeting at the Executive Council.
“After the first three rounds of relief measures from August to October, the financial secretary will roll out the fourth round shortly,” she revealed, adding that unemployment was expected to rise.
The fresh measures – the exact nature of which Lam did not elaborate on – will add to the more than HK$21 billion (US$2.67 billion) in sweeteners which the government has unveiled in the past four months.
Previous measures have included fuel subsidies for commercial vehicles, cash incentives for tour operators, subsidies for poorer residents and a string of waivers on government fees for companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.