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New crown pneumonia | The government refuses to access MPF in advance, says it will make every effort to promote the revision of MPF hedging

2020-10-21T09:39:57.178Z


The unemployment rate in Hong Kong rose to 6.4% from July to September, the highest level in the past 16 years. The unemployed population was close to 260,000. Members of the Legislative Council Xie Weijun and Zheng Yongshun respectively proposed to allow emergency withdrawals of MPF and whether there are other measures to support the unemployed. The government responded that it would not relax MPF for emergency purposes.


Political situation

Author: Zheng Baosheng

2020-10-21 17:25

Last update date: 2020-10-21 17:25

The unemployment rate in Hong Kong rose to 6.4% from July to September, the highest level in the past 16 years. The unemployed population was close to 260,000.

Members of the Legislative Council Xie Weijun and Zheng Yongshun respectively proposed to allow emergency withdrawals of MPF and whether there are other measures to support the unemployed. The government responded that it would not relax MPF for emergency purposes.

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The government said that allowing early access will lose the opportunity to rollover value-added

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Xu Zhengyu, in reply to Tse Wai Chun’s question, said that among the more than 4 million MPF ​​scheme members, about 36% of the accounts have accumulated equity of less than 10,000 yuan, and 26% are 10,000 to 50,000 yuan. 12 % Is 50,000 to 100,000 yuan, and the average accrued equity is 250,000 yuan.

Regarding Xie Weijun's proposal to allow the withdrawal of MPF for emergency use of the unemployed, Xu Zhengyu said that any proposal to allow early withdrawal of accrued benefits must take into account that the accrued benefits of plan members used as retirement reserves will be reduced accordingly.

He pointed out that if the requirements for preserving accrued benefits are relaxed and scheme members are allowed to withdraw early to meet short-term financial or emergency needs, the accrued benefits will be lost from time to time and the opportunity for rollover of accrued benefits will be lost, which will weaken the integrity of the MPF system. It is difficult to achieve the goal of assisting the working population to save for retirement.

Xu Zhengyu said that the government understands that the epidemic poses financial pressures on many citizens and businesses, so it has provided multi-faceted relief measures through the "epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic fund" and "employment protection" programs to tide over the difficulties with the public.

Xu Zhengyu said that any proposal to allow early withdrawal of accrued benefits must take into account that the accrued benefits used by plan members as retirement reserves will be reduced accordingly.

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Means that severance payment or long service payment can relieve the financial pressure of the unemployed

As for Zheng Yongshun’s written question about support for the unemployed, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong responded that contract employees who are dismissed and meet the specified conditions and required service years can receive severance payment or long service payment, up to 390,000 yuan , I believe it will help alleviate the financial pressure they face due to losing their jobs.

As for the current company bankruptcy, employers can use MPF employer contributions to "hedge" severance payments and long service payment expenses. The government stated that it is now fully advancing the preparations for the abolition of regulations and drafting empowerment legislation.

Luo Zhiguang pointed out that the "Special Scheme for the Unemployed" under the CSSA Scheme will be postponed for a total of 12 months until May 31, 2021.

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As for other measures to assist the unemployed, Luo Zhiguang pointed out that the "Special Scheme for the Unemployed" under the CSSA Scheme will be postponed for a total of 12 months until May 31, 2021.

In addition, under the current CSSA arrangements, self-occupied properties of able-bodied households will be exempted from being counted as assets during the first 12-month grace period.

225,000 CSSA cases were recorded in September, unemployment category rose 1.4% to 19,000

The unemployment rate in Hong Kong rose last quarter, consumer and tourism industry unemployment rate 11.7% is the highest since SARS

Unemployment rate rose to 6.4% scholars expected to reappear layoffs by the end of the year

The unemployment rate rose to 6.4% from July to September, and the unemployed army approaches 260,000

In September 2020, the Labour Department also raised the upper limit of the on-the-job training allowance that employers can receive under the "Employment Scheme for the Middle and Senior Citizens", the YPTP and YWETS and the "Employment Development Program" to further encourage employers to hire middle and senior citizens. And provide on-the-job training for people, young people and people with disabilities.

At the same time, the Labour Department also used a pilot method to grant retention allowances to eligible elderly, young people and persons with disabilities who participated in these employment programs to encourage them to receive and complete on-the-job training to stabilize employment.

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New crown pneumonia MPF MPF hedges unemployment rate Hong Kong economy

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-10-21

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