HKSAR gov’t to inject around 825.53 mln USD to help COVID-19-hit industries

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Thursday that it will launch a new round of antiepidemic fund worth 6.4 billion HK dollars (about 825.53 million U.S. dollars) to help hard-hit industries, including fitness centers and restaurants. Matthew Cheung, chief secretary for administration of the

HKSAR government, told the media that among the 6.4 billion HK dollars relief funding, 5.5 billion HK dollars are earmarked to help industries hard-hit by COVID-19 and the remaining will be for emergency use. The HKSAR government’s decision of injecting a new round of funding was prompted by the latest epidemic situation which is not optimistic, Cheung said, adding that this round will be more focused on helping premises that are ordered to close under the social distancing measures. The HKSAR government has committed over 300 billion HK dollars of relief funding to fight COVID19 so far. It is estimated that the HKSAR government would see a record high deficit of more than 300 billion HK dollars in the 202021 fiscal year, Cheung said. The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR will meet next Monday and discuss the funding application, according to Cheung. (1 USdollar = 7.75 HK dollars)

(Xinhua)