Hong Kong jobless subsidy scheme receives nearly 180,000 applications within 3 days of launch, city leader pledges no upper limit to support
- City leader Carrie Lam says subsidy scheme will continue to approve applications, even if initiative exceeds target of 300,000 recipients
- Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office chief says more employees brought in to take calls as scheme receives 140,000 inquiries in first two days
Nearly 180,000 people have applied for a HK$10,000 unemployment subsidy within the first three days of applications opening, with Hong Kong’s leader saying the scheme will have no upper limit on the overall funds distributed.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said financial support under the Temporary Unemployment Relief Scheme would be distributed to as many eligible recipients as possible.
“We will continue to approve applications even if the number exceeds our original expectation of 300,000,” she said at her daily press briefing on Saturday.
Applications opened on Wednesday until April 12, with the government originally setting aside HK$3 billion (US$383 million) for residents made unemployed during the ingoing coronavirus outbreak.
To receive the funds, applicants must provide proof of employment in Hong Kong for at least one month between October 1 and December 31 last year and a previous total monthly income of between HK$2,700 and HK$30,000.
But Doris Ho Pui-ling, head of the government’s Policy Innovation and Coordination Office (Pico), told a radio programme the scheme had received 179,000 applications since its launch, with 95,000 on the first day.
