Hong Kong/HKD 5,000 vouchers offered to Hong Kong residents

Following the annual budget announcements in late February, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Sunday detailed the HK$5,000 consumer assistance programme for Hong Kong's 7.2 million residents.

5,000 HKD in digital vouchers via payment platforms

By summer, Hong Kong residents will receive HKD5,000 in consumer assistance, paid in HKD1,000 increments for five months, in the form of digital vouchers via electronic platforms.

The government has selected AlipayHK, Octopus, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK as the operators to make the vouchers available. These platforms were chosen for their popularity, ease of use and merchant networks of up to 100,000 professionals.

While details on the implementation of this program will follow as soon as possible, residents will be invited to register with any of these four platforms by the summer to benefit from it.

These consumer vouchers to stimulate the local economy

These digital vouchers will allow merchants to generate additional revenue, encourage consumption and stimulate the local economy. Since last year, Hong Kong's economy has shrunk by 6.1% - with the coronavirus pandemic severely affecting the tourism and restaurant sectors.

It will cost the government about HK$36 billion, including HK$600 million for administrative expenses.

According to the Financial Secretary, the programme is expected to boost the economy by 0.7 percentage points.

More details on the program will be announced later by the government.

Source: lepetitjournal.com