220,000 new registrants qualified to receive latest batch of consumption vouchers

There are 220k new eligible registrants, out of 6.5 million people, qualified to receive the upcoming batch of consumption vouchers, which will be distributed on Sunday. 

The latest round of distribution aims to inject approximately HK$13 billion into the local economy, according to Hong Kong's finance chief Paul Chan. The vouchers will be distributed to digital wallets chosen by the applicants including Octopus, Bank of China’s BOC Pay, HSBC’s PayMe, AlipayHK, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK.

According to the official release, for eligible existing registrants who receive the first and second instalment vouchers through Octopus, if their cumulative "eligible spending" has reached $3,000 by 30 June, they will be disbursed with the second instalment on 16 July. If the cumulative spending requirement is met afterwards, the relevant vouchers will be disbursed on the 16th of the following month, and the cumulative spending requirement has to be met by 31 October at the latest.

Meanwhile, local retailers such as Wellcome and Mannings have launched some promotional offers to drive local consumption. According to am730, around 1,600 restaurants will offer discounts on 16 July.

Don't miss: 'Government unlikely to dish out consumption vouchers regularly,' says HK finance chief

However, Chan said previously that the government is unlikely to regularise the spending voucher scheme. "In the past few years, we have distributed spending vouchers as part of our economic recovery efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The pandemic has now been brought under control and tourists have come back since our borders were reopened," he said.

“It will be very difficult to distribute the vouchers regularly in long term as they were meant to boost the economy during the pandemic, and the city is recovering," Chan added.

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