- Party chairman Tommy Cheung says consumer vouchers would work best – as idea floated to Financial Secretary Paul Chan
- Hong Kong has been rocked by six months of social unrest and is expected to post its first deficit in 15 years
Hong Kong residents should be given a government handout of HK$10,000 (US$1,282) in cash, or preferably consumer vouchers, amid the economic downturn, according to the pro-business Liberal Party.
The party floated the suggestion at a meeting on Monday with Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on his upcoming annual budget, which was expected to be announced in February.
Hong Kong has been rocked by six months of social unrest and the city is expected to post its first deficit in 15 years.
Party chairman Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, an adviser in city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's cabinet, the Executive Council, said consumer vouchers would work best.
"With vouchers, citizens can spend in the retail sector, and different businesses are set to benefit from the compound effect," Cheung said. "People spend in shops and then the employees, with better salaries, will spend more elsewhere."
With vouchers, citizens can spend in the retail sector, and different businesses are set to benefit from the compound effectTommy Cheung, Liberal Party chairman
But if people were given a cash handout they might just save the money or go travelling overseas, he said.
"But we don't mind the government handing out cash if it thinks consumer vouchers will create an administrative burden," he added.
Cheung said the party raised the idea of consumer vouchers years ago but then financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said the administrative costs would be heavy, and decided to hand out HK$6,000 in cash instead.
The party's proposals also included a short-term 50 per cent reduction in rent for owners of wet market stalls, as well as cash subsidies for water and sewage charges, rates and electricity bills. They also proposed salaries tax relief, subject to a HK$50,000 limit.
Chan on Saturday said it was "unavoidable" for Hong Kong to be in the red for the budgets of 2019-20 and 2020-21. Last week, the government downgraded its forecast for this year's budget from a surplus of HK$16.8 billion to a deficit, with public spending rising above income for the first time in 15 years.
Meanwhile, Liberal Party leader Felix Chung Kwok-pan said he would submit a motion to invoke the Legislative Council's investigative powers and appoint a select committee to look into the months-long unrest sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Speaking on an RTHK programme on Sunday, Chung said: "The committee shall be responsible for carrying out the investigation and reporting its findings to the Legislative Council, including the consequences inflicted upon the livelihood and economy of Hong Kong and other relevant matters as a response to the demands of society."
Chung on Monday said he expected the motion to be tabled at a Legco meeting next month.
Pan-democrat lawmakers also planned to table similar motions, but analysts believed Chung's motion was more likely to be supported by the pro-establishment camp, which dominates the legislature.
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