Hong Kong Gives HK$120 Billion Boost to Economic Recovery
Bloomberg
2/24/2021
Eric Lam
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong gave consumers a boost with spending vouchers and loans for the unemployed, while hitting investors with a planned tax hike on stock trading.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan outlined HK$120 billion ($15.5 billion) of fiscal support in his budget Wednesday to spur consumption and ease joblessness in an economy that’s slowly recovering after two years of recession. To boost revenue, he proposed raising the stamp duty on trading to 0.13% from 0.1%, sparking a selloff in equities.
Chan said the focus of the budget is on stabilizing an economy hit by political and social unrest in 2019 and then the coronavirus pandemic last year. After a record contraction of 6.1% last year, the economy will grow in a range of 3.5%-5.5% in 2021, he said.