Blog

Season's wishes

In the blink of an eye, winter solstice and Christmas are approaching. May I wish you and your families a joyous holiday season and good health.

Although festive displays and decorations can still be seen in shopping malls, under the threat of the fourth wave of the epidemic, many restaurants close early as dinner dining-in services are not allowed, and quite some premises suspend their operations given the tightened social distancing measures currently in place. As the year-end holiday period is always full of festive atmosphere, many businesses have been hoping to recover some of their previous losses in this festive season. The current epidemic situation means a further blow on them.

For those sectors hard hit by the latest round of restriction measures, the Government will make every effort to provide support and tide them over. It is with this intention that a further injection of HK$ 6.4 billion into the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) was announced some days ago for the implementation of 19 subsidy schemes to provide targeted assistance to sectors and people directly affected by the latest round of anti-epidemic measures. These include catering business, bars, Karaoke establishments, beauty parlours, massage establishments, cinemas, fitness centres, kindergartens, art practitioners and interest classes service providers, etc.

The amount of subsidies in this round almost doubles that of the similar measures launched under the third round of AEF in September. However, as I mentioned earlier, to many long-struggling businesses, the subsidies are only a drop in the bucket and temporary reliefs. They are not long-term solution to the root of the problem. As pointed out by many in the sectors, what they genuinely need is that people flow can be back to normal and their business operations can be resumed free of repeated restrictions. They also wish to see the resumption of travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland, as well as other places, as soon as possible so as to give a boost to the market.

Many breadwinners may share the same feeling. According to the latest figures released by the Census and Statistics Department, the unemployment rate and underemployment rate for the period of September to November are 6.3% and 3.4% respectively. Although the figures improved when compared with that in the previous period, still there are more than 240 000 people who have lost their jobs, and some 130 000 people who are underemployed. Indeed, quite some of them may have been unemployed or underemployed for a period of time and have to rely on savings and borrowings to pay for their daily expenses. This is extremely stressful to the families. If the epidemic could not be contained as soon as possible, it is likely that the unemployment rate will hike again.

To bring the epidemic under control is the most imminent task. I believe this is the Christmas wishes of many people. And indeed, it is also the request raised by most people during the Budget consultation sessions with individual sectors conducted over the past two weeks. Under the leadership of the Chief Executive, the Hong Kong SAR Government has all along been making our every effort to contain the epidemic, so that businesses and the public can be back to their daily routines. I wish everyone can support Government's measures and join hands together to fight back the virus.

The grassroots and the middle class have been particularly hard hit by the epidemic. The preparation of the upcoming Budget would be challenging given the current difficult situation. We need to consider how we can support people affected, protect the economy, and prepare for the recovery of the economy after the epidemic. The public consultation for the 2021-22 Budget commences today. Facing the changing and challenging future, we need your participation even more to plan for Hong Kong with collective wisdom.

This echoes the message carried out in the promotional video for this year's public consultation exercise: preparing a Budget is like cooking for your family, we can only cook to your taste if we know what is on your mind. The Government will be facing an unprecedented fiscal deficit of more than HK$300 billion in the current financial year, and the budget next year is expected to be in the red again. This is a huge challenge. Nevertheless, I am still looking forward to your valuable views to keep our works staying close to the community. I sincerely invite you all to share your thoughts with us through the website, the dedicated Facebook page, by email, by phone (2810 3768), by fax (2147 5770) or by post (Budget Consultation Support Team, 24/F, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong). Let us join hands together to ride out the storm and build a brighter future for Hong Kong.

December 20, 2020