Politics
Written by: Zheng Baosheng
2020-02-19 07:00
Last updated: 2020-02-19 07:00Hong Kong's already weak economy has been exacerbated by the anti-revision storm in 2019 and the pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan beginning to 2020. The Government will publish a "Budget". All sectors of the community are concerned about whether vigorous measures will be introduced to benefit the people.
Over the past decade or so, Hong Kong has experienced many economic downturns, including SARS in 2003 and the financial tsunami in 2008, and finally weathered the crisis. If I look into the Budget of that year, will I find a solution to save the economic downturn?
SARS government cuts after high fiscal deficits
SARS hit Hong Kong's economy in 2003 and unemployment rose. The 2004 Budget did not send large sums of money because the fiscal deficit was so high that the government had to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
From 2003 to 2004, the fiscal deficit was 49 billion yuan, equivalent to 4% of GDP. The Budget estimates that there will still be a 42.6 billion deficit in 2004-05. Measures will be taken to reduce the deficit. It is expected that fiscal balance will be restored in 2008-09.
Therefore, the 2004 Budget did not increase spending, but gradually reduced public expenditure. For example, government operating expenses decreased from 217.4 billion yuan in 2003-04 to 200 billion yuan in 2008-09. At the same time, it also formulates open source plans, such as custom license plate number plans, and issuance of government bonds.
The bond issuance plan of the 2004 Budget, namely the "Five Tunnels and One Bridge" bond, includes the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Lantau Link. (Profile picture)
Main economic measures: CEPA, Freedom
However, the Hong Kong Government did not sit back and wait for it. Instead, it relied on the "North-South Water Diversion" to boost the weak economy. In 2003, China and Hong Kong signed the "Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)". There is zero tariff on the entry and exit of goods, and Hong Kong's service industry can also enter the Mainland market according to the arrangement.
At the same time, the "Individual Tour" program (ie, free travel) was launched, which first allowed residents of Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Foshan to visit Hong Kong as individuals, and later expanded to multiple cities.
After SARS in 2003, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments launched the Free Travel Plan, and since then a large number of tourists have come to Hong Kong for consumption. (Profile picture)
Renewal of temporary office post will be deducted by interest for two years
As for social-oriented measures, including the allocation of 1.2 billion yuan for the renewal of about 11,000 temporary positions, and the provision of traineeships, training and self-employment support for young people.
Although facing fiscal deficits, the 2004 Budget did not increase taxes. At the same time, the home loan interest deduction was extended for two years, and 200 million yuan was set aside to promote cooperation between the government, business and social welfare sectors to help the disadvantaged.
In short, in the current political climate, the "individual travel" and "CEPA" models are unlikely to be replicated, but the government "Lizhui" has opened temporary positions and extended the home loan interest deduction for two years. value.
In 2008, Hong Kong faced another major economic shock: the global financial tsunami struck, and the government had to launch a lot of measures to support the economy.
Economic growth slowed to 2.5% in 2008, and the government expects to shrink by 2 to 3% in 2009, putting upward pressure on the unemployment rate. As a result, the 2009 Budget introduced a number of measures to revitalize the economy, and the estimated deficit was once again widened to 39.9 billion yuan.
In 2009, it was 1.63 billion and created 26,000 jobs.
The Budget of 2009 set aside 1.6 billion yuan to create 62,000 jobs and internships within three years. These include employment support for the unemployed by the Mouth Strong Labour Department, university graduate internship programs, and building renewal initiatives. Organize events to attract tourists and host the East Asian Games.
The government launched a number of measures to expand the economy, including promoting Hong Kong as an Asian food and wine center, promoting exhibition tourism, and reserving 300 million yuan to support creative industries.
The implementation of the building renewal campaign in the 2009 fiscal accounts is also one of the measures to provide employment opportunities. (Profile picture)
Speeding up infrastructure construction to increase social welfare expenditure
The focus of the 2009 Budget was to make a decision to promote the start of infrastructure projects. The cost of basic labor in 2009-10 increased to 39.3 billion yuan.
The budget of that year greatly increased the social welfare expenditure, including an increase of 870 million yuan in funding to the Hospital Authority within three years, a reserve of 840 million yuan to strengthen medical services, an additional 37 million yuan in regular funding to elderly homes, and another 55 million yuan The regular funding of RMB is used to purchase 650 subsidized residential care places.
Tax reduction of 6,000 yuan and rates reduction lead the rent reduction for 3 months
With regard to personal "sugar", the 2009 Budget has reduced the salaries tax and personal income tax by 50% from 2008 to 2009, with a ceiling of RMB 6,000. At the same time, the freeze on various government-related government charges was extended to March 31, 2010.
In terms of property, rates for the first two quarters of 2009-10 were waived, with a monthly cap of 1,500 yuan per quarter. In addition, most government properties and land short-term leases have been reduced by 20% for three months.
Popular money is not launched under two economic crises
It is worth noting that after the two economic downturns, there was no national distribution of money. The national distribution of 6,000 yuan will be distributed between 2011 and 2022, after recording a 71.3 billion yuan fiscal surplus in the previous year.
The new recruits of the year, such as CEPA and free travel, have been very mature so far, and the marginal effect of further expansion is not large. Free travel also brings the side effects of high prices and street-wide pharmacies.
As for measures such as tax cuts, although they have achieved certain results, the government may publicize a deficit in advance. If the tax cuts and fees are significantly reduced, government revenue may be greatly reduced and the deficit soared. In this case, throwing money to create a lot of job and internship opportunities, promote infrastructure, expand the level of building renewal, organize activities to attract tourists, etc., may become one of the wealthy men to support employment and support economic tactics.
Budget