HK ties up stimulus boost plan

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region yesterday announced HK$16.8 billion of tax cuts, fee waivers and spending to shield people from a recession that's likely to be the worst on record.

The government could "do something further" if conditions worsen, its Financial Secretary John Tsang said at a briefing in the city yesterday.

Yesterday's measures, including waiving business registration fees, salary tax cuts and suspending two quarters of property rates, take stimulus and relief spending since 2008 to HK$87.6 billion, or about 5.2 percent of gross domestic product, Tsang said.