Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor recently announced that the fifth round of anti-epidemic funds will be restarted to provide assistance to industries affected by the epidemic, including restaurants and tourism. Details will be announced on Friday (14th).
She also said that the balance of the 4 rounds of funds still has more than 4 billion yuan, and if there is money, assistance can be issued immediately.
Exactly how much government-related spending has been spent since the outbreak began?
Carrie Lam announced that the fifth round of anti-epidemic funds will be divided into two parts, one is industries affected by tightened epidemic prevention measures, including closed scheduled premises and restaurants; the other is industries that have been in a frozen state, such as tourism .
She pointed out that the new round of anti-epidemic funds will be based on the previous round, but since the closing time is different from the previous one, the amount of assistance is expected to be different. Details will be announced this Friday (14th).
The government launched the first round of the Anti-epidemic Fund in February 2020, involving 30 billion yuan, including subsidies for the HA's anti-epidemic work, the retail industry, and the transportation industry.
In the two years of fighting the epidemic, the government has launched 4 rounds of anti-epidemic funds, involving 197.9 billion yuan. Together with the "10,000 yuan for the whole people" proposed in the Budget, and relief measures such as "employment protection", the total expenditure is expected to reach 317.9 billion yuan. Yuan.
Among the hundreds of measures, the Employment Support Scheme and the universal distribution of 10,000 yuan involved the largest amount, with a total of 163.3 billion yuan, accounting for about half of the overall relief measures. Among them, the second round of subsidies for catering establishments affected by social distancing measures accounted for 46.5% of the total. 100 million yuan, ranking among the top 10 measures involving the largest amount of money.
This anti-epidemic fund will support tourism and closed venues. Since the first round of the anti-epidemic fund, restaurants that have been affected by social distancing measures have received a total of 9.722 billion yuan in subsidies, followed by beauty salons, massage parlors and party rooms. 1.76 billion yuan.
The government recorded a fiscal deficit of $257.6 billion in 2020/21, the highest deficit ever recorded, far exceeding the forecast of $139.1 billion.
According to last year's Budget, the main reason is the various relief measures introduced by the government during the epidemic, including the Anti-epidemic Fund, which is forecasted to be a deficit of $101.6 billion in 2021/22.
