The second batch of HK$5,000 (US$635) in consumption vouchers will be distributed starting in August, and the scheme will be expanded to include non-permanent residents who are eligible for permanent residency, but will not cover people planning to emigrate, the city’s finance chief has announced.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Monday revealed more details about the e-voucher scheme, saying talents, entrepreneurs and students who were eligible to become permanent residents could receive the handout.
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“We have taken in the views from the public that called for beneficiaries to be expanded, as such, those who are eligible to be permanent residents would be eligible,” Chan said.
Second batch of Hong Kong consumption vouchers ‘to be disbursed during summer’
Chan also noted that people who were planning to emigrate or were absent from Hong Kong “without specific reasons” for three consecutive years would not be eligible for the vouchers. Exceptions included those who had gone to foreign countries for further study or been sent to work in headquarters outside Hong Kong.
The expanded scheme covers an extra 300,000 people and will increase the cost to the government by more than HK$1 billion.
The registration period runs from June 23 to July 23, and the vouchers will be disbursed from August 7.
Residents can store the e-vouchers in any of six service providers, after BoC Pay and HSBC’s PayMe joined operators Alipay HK, Octopus, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK.
Those who do not wish to change to a different service operator need not go through any further registration procedures.
The government estimated in March that the HK$10,000 e-vouchers disbursed would boost the economy by 1.2 per cent.
The scheme was first introduced last year, in which eligible registrants received vouchers worth HK$5,000 in their electronic wallets during the third and fourth quarters. The government said it boosted gross domestic product by 0.7 per cent that year.
In April, retail sales rose by 11.7 per cent year on year, ending a two-month decline. The total monthly sales value also rose to HK$30 billion, of which sales of electrical appliances and other consumer durables surged by more than 40 per cent.
The value of online sales grew by 36 per cent in the same period, hitting more than HK$11 billion. It accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the total retail sales, higher than roughly 7 per cent in the same period last year.
The city’s economy grew by 6.4 per cent last year, rebounding sharply from a 6.5 per cent contraction in 2020.
More from South China Morning Post:
- 1 million Hongkongers received first round of e-vouchers through Octopus mobile app, says finance chief
- More than 6 million Hongkongers to receive HK$5,000 in first phase of e-voucher scheme from April 7
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