The announcement by the Chief Executive on April 8, 2020
Chief Executive Carrie Lam has tonight announced a HK$137.5 billion (US$17.6 billion) economic relief package to help individuals and industries affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
This takes to HK$287.5 billion (US$36.85 billion) – about 10% of GDP – the total pledged by the HKSAR Government to help offset the economic fallout from COVID-19 including the HK$120 billion relief package in the 2020-21 Budget and the HK$30 billion anti-epidemic fund.
The 2020-21 deficit will rise to HK$276.6 billion (9.5% of GDP) from the Budget forecast of HK$139.1 billion (4.8% of GDP).
The package covers four major areas
1. Job retention, job creation, job advancement
2. Sector-specific relief
3. Government rental concessions, fee waivers, deferral of loans
4. Government facilitation in other areas
On job retention, the government will launch an HK$80 billion employment subsidy scheme
– All employers making MPF contributions are eligible
– Capped at $9,000 per month (i.e. 50% of the monthly median wage of HK$18,000) per employee for six months
On job creation, the government and private sectors will create 30,000 time-limited jobs at a cost of $6 billion; civil service will recruit 10,000 people in 2020-21
On sector-specific relief, HK$21 billion was pledged for 16 support measures.