46 Economy
Cash injection
The ongoing global financial crisis has prompted a series of economy-boosting
measures amounting to a MOP10.2 billion splurge in public expenditure for 2009
T
he measures are aimed at keeping the residual unem- That’s it.
ployment rate steady and come almost two years after The chief executive says SMEs are “the government’s pri-
the corruption scandal that shook the public works sector ority” and this is aimed at creating jobs, guaranteeing social
in the shape of disgraced former Secretary Ao Man Long. stability and maintaining the domestic spending capacity. The
Among them is the eagerly awaited first phase of construc- mechanisms for fiscal incentives and subsidies will be reviewed
tion of the Light Rail System, more public housing, neighbour- and credit and financing programs improved.
hood re-planning projects and the beautification of areas sur-
rounding World Heritage sites, all of which will be carried out Loans boost
by Small and Medium Enterprises (SME).
Over the next 12 months, the Industrial Development and
Trans-border project Commercialization Fund will be allocated an extra MOP1.5
billion and there will also be a substantial increase in the guar-
Officials also guaranteed work on the development project anteed maximum limit for banking loans granted to SMEs –
for the Trans-border Industrial Park and financial incentives to from MOP300 million to MOP3.5 billion.
encourage owners to refurbish condominiums. In other words, The system of approving requests will also be simplified
there will be “special procedures for special cases” and a sim- and the percentages defined for each loan will include the cur-
pler administrative process in line with the law. rent operational costs. All this is in an effort to help SMEs “face
Despite the emphasis placed on the lands appreciation the economic turbulence around the corner”.
process - with the new land law already undergoing public Both the launch of public works projects and the reinforce-
consultation - the infamous key urban plan only takes up a sen- ment of aid to smaller companies had been demands from legis-
tence in Edmund Ho’s Governing Policies Outline (LAG) for lators—nominated by and connected to the business sector—at
2009. Work, he said “will be developed in an orderly manner”. recent Legislative Assembly sessions.
december 2008
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