HK to unveil 4th round of relief

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced on Tuesday it will soon unveil a new round of relief measures after the city recorded its biggest plunge in retail sales a day earlier.

This will be the fourth such round of measures since the Extradition Bill Incident-led social unrest gripped the city half a year ago. Moreover, the Hong Kong government is on track for its first fiscal deficit in 15 years.

Briefing the media before the weekly Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said details of a new round of relief will shortly be announced by the financial secretary in a bid to help "target businesses and sectors" ride out the economic downturn.

Thomas Yuen Wai-Kee, economics professor at Hong Kong Shue Yan University, said new measures are likely to target the tourism and retail sectors which have borne the brunt of prolonged violent protests.

The tourism and retail industries, although adequate in service delivery, are short of cash flow, as tourists have turned their back on the city and local consumer sentiment was quite low, said Yuen.

He also suggested new measures should be quick and efficient to help business sectors because previous rounds took too much time in administrative procedures before finally relieving their burdens.

The Hong Kong government has rolled out three rounds of relief measures amounting to more than HK$21 billion (US$2.67 billion) since August. Previous measures included fuel subsidies for commercial vehicles and vessels, cash incentives for tourism practitioners, waivers of government fees for small and medium-sized enterprises and subsidies for low-income households.

Lam said the government has about HK$1.1 trillion in fiscal reserves to weather pressures from bruising Sino-US trade disputes and crippling anti-government protests.

International business confidence in Hong Kong will be undermined in economic uncertainties brought by the controversial Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act signed by US President Donald Trump last week, said the chief executive, who described the Act as totally "unacceptable" and "unnecessary".

The act has created "an unstable environment" in Hong Kong and hurt local businesses, including about 1,300 US enterprises which have their regional offices in the city, Lam said, adding that many business chambers in Hong Kong have voiced strong opposition.

The act subjects Hong Kong's autonomy to an annual assessment by the US State Department with the threat to revoke the territory's separate status in trade and finance.

Beijing has announced a series of countermeasures against the US, including barring the US military from Hong Kong ports and sanctioning various nongovernmental organizations. Lam said her government will follow Beijing's moves.

Stopping violence remains high on the agenda if the city wants to recover the economy, said Lam, while expressing her regrets that violence returned to the streets over the past weekend after about a fortnight of peace.

On Sunday, radical protesters trashed and smashed local shops which they believe support the government or have business ties with the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong's lunchtime demonstrations have been a routine for weeks. Many business districts across the city grind to a halt when hundreds of protesters, many in masks, take to the streets, block roads in show of their political demands. Verbal disputes have often turned to scuffles between protesters and passers-by who hold different political views.

Law professor Willy Fu Kin-chi, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, said some lunchtime protesters, in disregard of public order, are at least involved in "unlawful assemblies", an offense punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

If these unauthorized protests are not regulated, more youngsters will be incited onto the streets in the future, having a negative impact on people's livelihood, Fu said.

Contact the writers at jefferygu@chinadailyhk.com