Coronavirus: Hong Kong lawmakers renew calls for unemployment scheme to help low-income groups survive economic fallout of pandemic

Some business-sector legislators also threaten to abstain from voting on the government’s budget as they are unhappy about a planned rise in stamp duty for stock transactions

DAB chief Starry Lee says she is disappointed with the government’s handling of the pandemic and its failure to support low-income groups

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Hongkongers will get HK$5,000 in e-vouchers to help boost consumer spending. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 7:51pm, 21 Apr 2021Updated: 8:53pm, 21 Apr 2021

Hong Kong officials should reconsider their decision to not set up an unemployment assistance scheme for low-income groups as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to batter the stricken economy, pro-establishment lawmakers said on Wednesday.

Some business-sector legislators also threatened to abstain from voting on the government’s budget because they were unhappy about a planned rise in stamp duty for stock transactions from 0.1 per cent to 0.13 per cent amid a record deficit.

Their calls came as the Legislative Council kicked off a lengthy debate on the budget, tabled as the Appropriation Bill 2021.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s annual spending blueprint, unveiled in a February 26 budget speech, included electronic vouchers to boost consumer spending and low-interest loans for the unemployed among a HK$120 billion (US$15.4 billion) raft of measures aimed at stabilising the economy and relieving people’s burden.

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What Hong Kong’s 2021-22 budget means for residents of the city

But the government will also increase the stamp duty levied on stock trading and raise the first registration tax for private cars, while pledging zero growth in the civil service headcount in 2021-22 as part of its cost-cutting measures.