Hong Kong will offer tax breaks, handouts and subsidies to small businesses and residents, to mitigate the impact of the most stringent social restrictions imposed in the city to curb the spread of COVID-19, Finance Secretary Paul Chan said.
The 2022/23 budget proposals were announced as hundreds of bars, restaurants and small retailers warned they were months away from closure, and shopping malls were deserted while the city endured its worst COVID-19 outbreak so far.
Fiscal reserves are estimated at HK$940 billion at the end of the government's current term in June, and are expected to grow above HK$1 trillion in the coming five years. Given the city is facing thousands of infections a day and the numbers are growing, some analysts predict at least one or two quarters of economic contraction after recovering last year from the city's most prolonged recession in 2019-2020.
A 100% reduction in profits tax capped at HK$10,000 is expected to benefit 151,000 firms, Chan said. In addition, the government will help small firms with loan guarantees, export financing, and debt repayment holidays.
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