Financial News
Written by: Liu Shaolan
2021-06-13 11:00
Last update date: 2021-06-13 11:43
Financial Secretary Chen Maobo published a blog today (13th) stating that the latest batch of inflation-linked bonds (iBond) subscriptions have received an overwhelming response. A total of more than 710,000 people have applied for subscription, an increase of 55% over the batch of bonds issued last year; The total subscription amount exceeded HK$54.5 billion, 40% more than last year. Both set new records since the issuance in 2011. The government will increase the issuance amount from HK$15 billion to HK$20 billion.
The subscription age for a new batch of silver bonds has dropped to 60
The government will announce details of the issuance of a new batch of Silver Bonds at the end of June. The issuance amount will be no less than HK$24 billion, and the eligible subscription age will be reduced from 65 to 60.
It means to provide more senior citizens with a stable and reliable investment option with good returns in the current low interest rate environment.
At the same time, it can also promote the development of products in the silver hair market with huge potential.
The unemployment rate in Hong Kong will fall back to the level of nearly a year ago
Chen Maobo also mentioned that the unemployment rate in Hong Kong is gradually falling. I believe that the unemployment rate to be announced later will soon fall back to the level of nearly a year ago.
As the epidemic prevention and control work has gradually achieved results and the number of people vaccinated has continued to increase, the Hong Kong economy has gradually regained its momentum. While the GDP has returned to growth, the job market has also improved. For example, the unemployment rate rose to 7.2% at the beginning of this year After its peak in the past 17 years, it has gradually declined, but it is still a long way from the situation of almost full employment before the epidemic.
However, Chen Maobo believes that in conjunction with the introduction of electronic consumer coupons, it is believed that it will help create a good consumer atmosphere, will also bring more business opportunities to merchants, and promote local electronic payments and applications.
In the first four months of this year, the total online retail sales of goods in Hong Kong exceeded 8.1 billion yuan, which was 53% higher than the same period last year, which was much higher than the overall retail sales growth of 8.3%.
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There is still plenty of room for improvement in online electronic consumption in Hong Kong
Chen Maobo quoted a survey that pointed out that the electronic trading model will be the mainstream trend and growth of the global market in the future.
When the surrounding cities are developing rapidly in this respect, if Hong Kong stagnates, the future will inevitably weaken the business space of local enterprises and small businesses, and consumers’ product choices and convenience will also be sacrificed, which is also detrimental to the digital economy. The overall development of Hong Kong.
He emphasized that Hong Kong, as an international financial center, has booming financial services, but there is still a lot of room for improvement and growth in electronic payment and online sales at the consumer level.
Statistics show that in the first four months of this year, the total online retail sales of goods in Hong Kong exceeded 8.1 billion yuan, which was 53% more than the same period last year and was much higher than the overall retail sales growth of 8.3%.
However, this rapidly growing part of online sales only accounts for 7% of Hong Kong's total retail sales, which is far lower than the over 20% in the Mainland, which means that there is still plenty of room for improvement in Hong Kong.
Furthermore, for merchants with physical retail outlets, online sales in the first four months of this year increased by 81%, which is much higher than the 28% sales growth of only online stores, which means that traditional merchants are also actively exploring online sales. In order to increase business growth.
Chen Maobo said that the preparations for the electronic consumer voucher program are in the final stage. The government will announce the details of the plan later, including registration procedures and issuance arrangements, and is expected to start accepting registration next month.
Chen Maobo Unemployment Rate
