Finance chief’s rental deferral plan for small Hong Kong firms in trouble as Carrie Lam wants cabinet to decide whether to support bill

A rental deferment proposal by Hong Kong’s financial secretary to help struggling business tenants may be in jeopardy, as the chief executive is consulting her cabinet on whether to support or abort the controversial scheme amid mounting opposition from developers and landlords, the Post has learned.

Sources said Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is seeking an informal meeting soon with her Executive Council to gauge their views on Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget proposal to allow tenants of commercial properties to postpone rental payments for up to three months.

“This proposal may not sail through the Legislative Council, as it has run into vehement opposition from developers and landlords who fear it will cause them cash flow problems. They simply want it to be scrapped,” a source said.

“There is some political infighting going on between Lam and Chan, as she thinks that the proposal will disrupt the non-intervention market principle,” the source continued. “She will have a meeting with some Exco members to gauge their views about this issue. It is a very unusual move.”

The source said that if the Exco vetoed the proposal, the planned bill would be shelved, leaving thousands of beleaguered small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) without a much-needed additional relief measure to ease their financial woes amid the city’s raging fifth wave of coronavirus infections. Many businesses have had to shut down temporarily under the government’s stringent restrictions.

Another insider said Lam became sceptical of Chan’s proposal after facing strong opposition from developers and big landlords, adding: “Carrie Lam is for sure not in favour of Paul Chan’s initiative.”