HONG KONG: The Hong Kong government won’t allow discount offers to be included in so-called give-back initiatives of the city’s two supermarket chains, which have received tens of millions in wage subsidies.Citing unquantifiability and lack of transparency, the government turned down the proposal of Wellcome and ParknShop to offer direct price reductions to customers but stressed that the city’s underprivileged groups should be given priority, being beneficiaries of no less than half of the alleviatory measures planned by the two chains.In 2018, HK’s pre-intervention poverty figures rose slightly year-on-year, with a a poverty rate of 20.4% and a poor population of more than 1.4 million.
“It is not only impossible for the government and the general public to constantly monitor price changes; it is also difficult for us to differentiate the discount offers from the two supermarket chains’ daily promotions,” a government spokesman said on Sunday.
