Hong Kong permanent residents will finally be able to apply for the government’s HK$10,000 (US$1,290) handout in about two weeks’ time.
In a press conference on Monday morning, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said local residents will be able to apply for the payment on June 21. The first handouts will be made as early as July 8—just about four, nearly five months, after the scheme was first announced in February. But who’s counting? (We are.)
Residents can submit their applications electronically or via traditional paper registration. Those doing so electronically are to apply through the bank’s website or online banking services. Applicants who submit their e-forms from July 1 onwards can expect the money in their bank accounts one week after registration.
Chan encouraged citizens to submit their applications online as this would be the fastest way to get the payment and also minimize the administration fees involved.
Alternatively, residents can also choose to submit the physical form to their bank or by mail, though this process will take longer.
The deadline to apply will be the end of next year. About seven million people will be eligible for the handout.
News that the government would be issuing the one-time cash handout in February was well received by the Hong Kong public, which was struggling to cope with the financial impacts of months of anti-government protests and the onslaught of the COVID-19 epidemic. But criticism that the money would take months to be delivered followed quickly.
“[I] hope that when everyone receives the money, that we will all put that towards consumption and reinvigorate Hong Kong’s economy,” Chan said.
Chan also said that personal information used in the registration would be kept this time to be used in similar schemes in the future, including both cash and non-cash handouts and refunds. But authorities dismissed privacy concerns.
Asked if there would be another round of cash handouts given the city’s poor economic outlook, Chan said that the government will “keep an open mind,” but that other factors including the affordability of such schemes must be considered.
This cash handout scheme will cost the Hong Kong government around HK$71 billion (US$9.2 billion).
Hong Kong’s economy in the first quarter contracted sharply by 8.9% year-on-year, and unemployment in the period of February to April rose to 5.4%—the highest in almost a decade.
