Society

HK unveils relief measures, worth HK$19b

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-24 17:02
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HONG KONG: The Hong Kong special administrative region (HKSAR) government on Wednesday unveiled a new relief package which would cost HK$19.07 billion ($2.5 billion).

The city's top financial official John Tsang said the relief measures were aimed at alleviating the burdens for Hong Kong residents and consolidating the economic recovery which had not yet gained a firm ground.

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The measures include paying two months' rent for around 700,000 public housing tenants, providing an extra allowance to recipients of social security assistance, and a 75 percent cut of salary tax, among others.

Since 2008, the HKSAR government introduced fiscal stimulus, job creation and relief measures amounting to HK$87.6 billion. With the new package included, the figure will rise to nearly HK$110 billion.

"Such measures, introduced on top of the current expenditure on health, housing, education and social welfare, are effective in stimulating the economy and safeguarding social stability and people's livelihood during the exceptional times of the financial tsunami," Tsang said.

However, he stressed that these "exceptional means" could not continue for long, otherwise they would affect the health of Hong Kong's public finances and dampen the enthusiasm for the economic progress.
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