More than 80% of the public are concerned about the economic recession in Hong Kong

Political situation

Written by: Peng Zhuowei

2020-11-03 22:40

Last update date: 2020-11-03 22:40

Affected by continuing political events and the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Hong Kong's economy has plunged into recession, and the unemployment rate has risen to the highest level since 2003.

In order to understand the public's opinions on Hong Kong's economic prospects and employment conditions, "Yinyan Hong Kong" conducted a poll from October 24 to November 2.

The survey showed that 61.5% of the respondents expected that Hong Kong’s economic recession would last for one year or more, and 62.1% of the respondents expected that the unemployment situation in Hong Kong would not improve until a year or more.

More than 80% of the interviewees also expressed concern or very worried about the economic recession and unemployment in Hong Kong.

Chen Zhihao, the Hong Kong convener of the Youth Research Institute, believes that the data show that the public is generally pessimistic about the economic outlook and that the economic recession and high unemployment rate will continue for a period of time.

The government has previously announced that it will not launch the third round of the "Ensure Employment" program. It is expected that more employers will require employees to take unpaid leave, leave their jobs without pay, or even lay off or close their jobs. This may cause the unemployment rate to rise further and the economy remains If the bottom is not reached, it may further hit the SAR government’s popularity.

According to the "Qingyan Hong Kong" survey, more than 80% of the interviewees expressed concern or were very worried about Hong Kong's economic recession and unemployment.

Youth Research Hong Kong released an online questionnaire under the title of "Hong Kong People's Economic and Employment Outlook" (the third quarter of 2020), and finally received responses from 841 citizens.

55.7% of the respondents have no or very little confidence in the Hong Kong government's response to the economic recession

The questionnaire surveyed respondents’ confidence in the SAR government’s response to the economic recession. The results showed that 55.7% of the respondents expressed no or very little confidence, and only less than 40% of the respondents expressed confidence or very much confidence.

It is worth noting that while there is insufficient confidence in the SAR government, 79% of the interviewees are very confident or confident that the central government can support Hong Kong in getting rid of the economic recession.

Zhou Yuangu, a Hong Kong member of the Youth Research Institute, believes that citizens have insufficient confidence in the SAR government, but they are confident in the central government’s support for Hong Kong to get rid of economic difficulties. This may reflect that most citizens agree with the epidemic prevention work in the Mainland and see China become the first in the world to get rid of the epidemic. Countries with positive economic growth expect the central government to actively support Hong Kong in getting rid of economic recession, as it did in 2003.

Nearly 70% of the interviewees said that if the economy continues to decline, it will hurt the evaluation of the Hong Kong government

In addition, nearly 70% of the interviewees said that if the Hong Kong economy continues to decline, it will hit or severely hit their evaluation of the SAR government.

But if the Hong Kong economy recovers early next year, 72.3% of the respondents will improve or substantially improve their evaluation of the SAR government.

77% of the respondents believe that stimulating the economy and ensuring employment is the current priority of the SAR government.

Pan Xiaowen, a member of the Hong Kong Youth Research Institute, believes that data show that the public generally regard the ability to cope with the economic recession as an important factor in evaluating the SAR government.

After the political turmoil has gradually subsided and the epidemic has gradually stabilized, the citizens most expect the SAR government to concentrate on getting rid of the economic recession, and regard it as the most important indicator for evaluating the performance of the SAR government. If the SAR government can successfully lead Hong Kong out of the economic dilemma as soon as possible, it will be able to recover. If the public has confidence in the government, if on the contrary, the government will definitely lose further public support.

Chen Hengpin: The Chief Executive must step up efforts to stimulate the economy and ensure employment in the "Policy Address"

According to Chen Hengpin, a consultant to the Hong Kong Youth Research Institute and a member of the Legislative Council, on a quarter-to-quarter comparison, Hong Kong’s GDP in the third quarter increased by 3% compared with the second quarter, but it still fell by 3.4% year-on-year.

At the same time, the unemployment rate in Hong Kong rose from 3.3% at the end of last year to 6.4% in the third quarter of this year, and the underemployment rate also rose from 1.2% to 3.8%. In tourism-related industries, the unemployment rate rose to 11.7%.

The government announced yesterday that Hong Kong’s retail sales fell by 12.9% in September, which is the 20th consecutive month of decline, indicating that the local economy has fallen into dire straits.

Chen Hengpin believes that Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor must step up efforts to stimulate the economy and ensure employment in the new Policy Address, and make good use of 800 billion yuan in fiscal reserves, such as the introduction of unemployment assistance, and the implementation of a two-yuan ride for seniors aged 60 or above as soon as possible. Public transportation, and seek support from the central government, as soon as possible to establish a tourism bubble mechanism with other cities in the Greater Bay Area, to assist Hong Kong people and Hong Kong enterprises to integrate the development of the Greater Bay Area, and to further restore the normal exchanges between the Mainland and Hong Kong.

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