People To Start Getting HK$10,000 Payout From July 8

Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Monday said that people will start getting the HK$10,000 cash handouts from July 8 onwards.

Chan said those eligible for the handout announced in the budget in February can start applying from June 21.

He said people can either register through their e-banking sites, or sign up by filling in an application form and submitting these to their banks or to the government's designated post PO box.

Chan said if people sign up electronically, they should get their money within around a week, while those who submit paper forms will get the money in around two weeks.

Chan had announced the cash handouts in his budget as a part of the relief measures as the city is reeling under one of its worst economic slumps.

In his budget speech, the secretary had said all Hong Kong permanent residents aged 18 or above will get the cash payment to “boost local consumption on the one hand, and relieve people's financial burden on the other" .

This measure will cost about HK$71 billion and is expected to benefit about seven million people. 

The handouts were welcomed by all political parties, including those in opposition.

But some critics slammed the move to give the handouts to permanent Hong Kong residents who have moved elsewhere and who won’t even have to come back to the SAR to get the HK$10,000.

The financial secretary had said the administrative procedures required to screen out those people would be complicated.

In 2011, the government provided residents with cash handouts of HK$6,000. The registration scheme to get hold of the money got underway around half a year after the move was announced by the then-financial secretary, John Tsang.