Spread The Wealth Around, FTU's Mak Urges

A pro-government lawmaker is calling for a cash handout of at least HK$6,000 for Hong Kong people, ahead of the government's budget next week.

Speaking on an RTHK programme on Monday, Alice Mak, from the Federation of Trade Unions says with a massive surplus of up to HK$140 billion, the government shouldn't just leave the money sitting in public coffers.

Other estimates have suggested that the government surplus could be HK$160 billion or even more, adding to the pressure on the Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, who delivers the budget on February 28.

However, Mak's suggestion was opposed by the Civic Party's Kwok Ka-ki.

Speaking on the same RTHK programme, Kwok urged the government to boost its tax refunds by up to 75 percent for people earning under HK$30,000 a month.

The financial secretary has sought to dampen hopes of a large-scale handouts.

On Saturday, Chan said he planned to use the huge surplus on a "targeted basis", which was seen as a strong hint that he did not plan cash handouts.