Political situation
Written by: Luo Jiaqing and Yuan Shu
2020-09-16 10:50
Last update date: 2020-09-16 10:50
The new coronavirus epidemic continues, and the government yesterday launched the third round of epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic measures, involving a total of about 24 billion yuan.
Member of the Legislative Council and leader of the Liberal Party Zhong Guobin stated on the Hong Kong and Taiwan program "Millenniums" that part of the 24 billion is used for fee waiver, and another 10 billion is reserved for vaccine procurement, which actually supports subsidies for 23 industries that have been hit hard by the epidemic. The total amount is only 4.5 billion yuan.
Zhong Guobin said that the government is not expected to "massive" subsidies. At present, it can only depend on whether there will be fewer employers applying for the second round of the "Ensure Employment" program, so that additional funds will be allocated for support.
He emphasized that the most important thing at the moment is not to worsen the epidemic and to maintain economic activity so that the industry can save itself.
Zhong Guobin said that the current fiscal reserves are only 800 billion yuan, and it will be difficult to spend another 600 billion yuan to implement the Lantau tomorrow plan, but he emphasized that the land supply problem still needs to be resolved.
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Zhong Guobin also pointed out that he hopes to introduce the "health code" and restart tourism activities as soon as possible. He said that the government is ready and now needs to cooperate with other places.
Zhong Guobin believes that the government launched a national testing program earlier and successfully identified more than 20 patients with invisible diseases among more than one million citizens. This data can prove to other countries about the health of Hong Kong people.
Regarding whether the "Lantau Tomorrow" plan should be continued with the reduction in fiscal reserves, Zhong Guobin said that the current fiscal reserves are only 800 billion yuan, and it is difficult to spend another 600 billion to implement the plan, but he emphasized that the land supply problem still needs to be resolved.
He suggested that the government can raise funds through the issuance of bonds to make the debt market active without the government having to bear all costs.
▼Reopening of premises and relaxation measures starting on September 18▼
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Guan Zhuozhao, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, believes that the implementation of Lantau tomorrow will run out of fiscal reserves in 11 years. This calculation is based on higher income and lower expenditure. Otherwise, the reserves may have begun to be negative by 2026.
He believes that Carrie Lam has overestimated the government's financial capacity to a certain extent, and structural expenditures are like snowballs. He also doubted whether Lantau will only build half of the island if its reserves are exhausted from tomorrow as planned in 2026. At that time, Hong Kong may be downgraded by the agency and even affect the linked exchange rate.
Greenpeace senior project director Lian Peiyi pointed out that Hong Kong’s economy is facing internal and external troubles and financial instability. The new crown pneumonia epidemic has already increased Hong Kong’s fiscal deficit. In addition, there are structural problems in the economy. The government needs to carefully consider how use money.
She also believes that after the completion of Lantau tomorrow, the population peak in Hong Kong has passed and the demand for housing will decline. The government should concentrate on researching and developing brownfields.
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