Chan allots $170b for economic revival

He hoped the stimulus would boost the 2022 economy by three percentage points.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan reinforced the government's efforts to overcome the pandemic, maintain sound finances, and gear up for recovery by unveiling his 2022 to 2023 budget.

The budget initiatives focused on allocating resources for a post-pandemic economic recovery, Hong Kong's people and its small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and investment for future developments. Chan said the counter-cyclical measures, costing a total of over $170b as mentioned in the budget, together with the spending on infrastructure projects and other items, will have a fiscal stimulus effect of boosting the economy by around three percentage points.

Read more: How will businesses benefit from the 2022 budget proposal?

Meanwhile, the budget has set aside the following for fighting the pandemic:

• $22b for the Food and Health Bureau to strengthen testing work, procure rapid antigen test kits and relevant services, and provide additional support for the Hospital Authority;
• $6b for the Department of Health to procure more vaccines as booster doses for the general public;
• $7b in total for relevant departments to procure anti‑epidemic items and services, implement anti‑epidemic measures;
• $500m within two years for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to enhance environmental hygiene services; and
• $12b into the Anti-Epidemic Fund for the construction of various anti-epidemic related facilities.

"At this critical time, we need to direct more resources to relieve people's hardship and provide SMEs with some breathing space to stabilise the economy and maintain public confidence," Chan added.

Also read: 2022 budget shows commitment to revive economy: PwC