Hong Kong to shell out $1b in subsidy programmes

560,000 people set to benefit.

According to a report, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam has unveiled new assistance programmes approved by the Commission on Poverty worth $1 billion, which will benefit more than 560,000 people.

Speaking to the media after the commission's fifth meeting today, Mrs Lam said the Community Care Fund will provide four new programmes, subsidising people with severe physical disabilities, students from low income families, and low-income people who are inadequately housed.

The commission agreed to relax the definition of "inadequately housed" to benefit more people. The move, to be implemented by year's-end, will cost $637 million and will benefit 200,000 people.

She said the commission expressed sympathy for residents in sub-divided units of industrial buildings or commercial premises, but could not reach a consensus on how to help them, as doing so contradicts the Government’s zero-tolerance stance against sub-divided units.

"On one hand, we said you should not live in industrial buildings because of the fire risk, and on the other hand, we are giving you a grant for your continued occupation of these premises. We need to find a creative way to get out of this contradiction."

She said the fund has the function of plugging the gaps in the existing system, and the commission will meet again soon to discuss solutions to the issue.

Other new programmes include providing students eligible for the School Textbook Assistance Scheme and students on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance a $500 or $1,000 flat-rate grant. The programme will be implemented in 2013-14 for a year, benefiting 348,000 students.

A new assistance programme will be launched to enhance the subsidising of tuition fees and flat-rate grants for students from low-income families studying sub-degree or below courses. The programme will be implemented in 2013-14 for a year, and 3,600 and 7,500 people will respectively benefit from it.

She said a special subsidy at a ceiling of $2,000 will be granted to people with severe physical disabilities to purchase consumables related to medical equipment for respiratory support.

Regarding the $15 billion injection into the fund, she said $10 billion will be placed with the Monetary Authority, and the remaining $5 billion will be temporarily reserved to meet the cash flow requirements.