New crown pneumonia | deficit of more than 300 billion yuan Chen Maobo: financial management must be prudent in the face of limited resources

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Written by: Kong Fanxu

2020-09-20 11:41

Last update date: 2020-09-20 11:42

The new crown pneumonia epidemic in Hong Kong has continued to ease, and the government has gradually relaxed social distancing measures. Karaoke, which has been closed for a long time, reopened last Friday (18th).

The Financial Secretary Chen Maobo published a blog today (20th), stating that he had inspected the reopening of karaoke a few days ago. Some employees expressed the hope that the epidemic situation would be further improved, operations would be fully restored, and revenue would be increased.

Chen also said that the three rounds of epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic fund measures, plus the budget relief measures, totaled more than 300 billion yuan. The expected consolidated deficit for this fiscal year will increase by more than 300 billion yuan, and fiscal reserves will drop to about 8,000. 100 million yuan, equivalent to 12 to 13 months of government expenditure, close to the 2003 post-SARS level.

However, when the economy is in deep recession, it is necessary for the government to support the economy through counter-cyclical measures. Faced with limited financial resources, it must manage its finances carefully and retain its financial strength.

▼Reopening of premises and relaxation measures starting on September 18▼

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Chen Maobo’s blog was titled "Forward Steady". He said that when inspecting karaoke a few days ago, some employees said to him that there are still restrictions on business and it is difficult for business to fully recover, but it must be a good thing to start and do some business. What they hope most is that the epidemic can be further improved, so that operations can be fully restored, which is the greatest help.

Fiscal reserves have fallen to the level of government spending for 12 to 13 months close to the situation after SARS

The government announced the third round of epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic fund measures last week. Chen said that together with other epidemic prevention and relief measures, the total scale is about 24 billion yuan.

In addition to the procurement of vaccines, subsidies are also provided to companies and individuals directly affected by the government's epidemic prevention measures and whose income has been hit hard by the epidemic, and the ceiling for rate concessions for non-residential properties has been increased, and water and sewage charges for non-residential users have been extended. Extending government properties and short-term lease rents and exempting 27 types of government fees.

The government has also asked the Housing Authority, the Housing Association, the Airport Authority, the Science Park and the Cyberport to provide rent concessions to non-residential tenants, and some organizations have also announced relevant measures.

Chen continued that the three rounds of anti-epidemic and anti-epidemic fund measures, plus the relief measures in the Budget, totaled more than 300 billion yuan, which is equivalent to about 11% of GDP. It is expected to provide a slightly higher amount of GDP. 5% support.

As for the projected consolidated deficit for this fiscal year (2020-21), it will further expand to more than 300 billion yuan, and fiscal reserves will fall to about 800 billion yuan, which is equivalent to about 12 to 13 months of government expenditure, which is close to The level after SARS in 2003.

Unemployment rate held at 6.1% from June to August

Chen also said that although the latest unemployment rate from June to August remained at 6.1%, the same level as from May to July, the actual number of unemployed people increased by about 5,800 to close to 250,000, which is more than the fourth quarter of last year. About one-quarter of it is in the retail, accommodation and catering industries.

Taking the catering industry as an example, the industry unemployment rate has hovered between 14% and 15% for four consecutive statistical periods, which is much higher than the overall unemployment rate of 6.1%.

The industry’s underemployment rate rose sharply from 6.1% from May to July to 8.3% from June to August, and the number of underemployed persons rose back to the level of nearly 20,000, reflecting the impact of the epidemic on many industries and the overall economy. a lot of pressure.

The 14-day national test "Universal Community Test" was completed earlier. Chen said that the plan has made a "freeze silhouette" for the overall community infection status in Hong Kong, providing a useful reference for risk assessment, and Hong Kong has an average of new diagnoses daily in the past week There are about 6 local cases, and even zero confirmed cases in a single day, but the invisible transmission chain in the community is worrying, and the epidemic has not been "tailed".

The Financial Secretary Chen Maobo recently inspected the reopening of karaoke.

(Chen Maobo Blog)

New coronary pneumonia