HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong will introduce 120 billion Hong Kong dollars ($15.4 billion) in fiscal measures to help businesses and residents impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, as it looks towards economic growth later this year following a recession in 2020. The measures come after Hong Kong last week reported a 7% jobless rate between November and January, the highest since April 2004. Vouchers worth 5,000 Hong Kong dollars ($645) will also be issued in installments to residents to boost consumption. That caused shares in the company operating the local bourse, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., to fall as much as 12.4 percent on Wednesday. Chan said Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory, would benefit from mainland China’s “fundamentally sound” economy, despite uncertainties from the epidemic and in US-China relations.

Source: Egypt Independent February 24, 2021 10:41 UTC