Hong Kong Chief Executive: The SAR Government will increase investment to protect the economy

　　China News Agency, Hong Kong, May 5 (Reporter Zhuo Long) Facing the deep recession of the Hong Kong economy, the Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region, Lin Zhengyue, emphasized on the 5th that the SAR Government will do more counter-cyclical measures to increase investment and protect the Hong Kong economy.

　　In the morning that Lin Zhengyue met with the media before attending the executive meeting, he said that Hong Kong ’s GDP fell by 8.9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020. This decline was the worst in Hong Kong ’s record and was also higher than expected, compared with Asia after the return. The financial turmoil, the SARS epidemic, and the global financial tsunami were even worse.

　　She explained that in the first quarter of 2020, the components of Hong Kong ’s GDP fell almost entirely, including the driving force of Hong Kong ’s economy—imports and exports of goods, service exports and imports, private consumption expenditures, and total local fixed capital formation. There was an increase in consumer spending.

　　Lin Zhengyue recalled that during the Asian financial turmoil from 1998 to 1999, the SAR government ’s financial situation was not satisfactory, so a series of "downsizing" work was carried out, including the implementation of voluntary retirement plans for civil servants to reduce expenditure.

　　However, she emphasized that in the face of the current severe economic situation, the SAR government has a clear position and believes that it is necessary to do more counter-cyclical measures, including increasing investment and continuing government expenditures, to protect Hong Kong's economy.

　　Lin Zhengyue said that the SAR government has successively launched a number of bail-out measures, including two rounds of measures under the "Epidemic and Anti-epidemic Fund" and large-scale counter-cyclical measures in the 2020-21 fiscal year government budget, involving a total amount of nearly 290 billion Hong Kong dollar.

　　She also said that the infrastructure projects of the SAR Government will not stop, which can bring a buffering effect to Hong Kong's local economy and the labor market.

　　Lin Zhengyue once again called on the SAR Legislative Council to pass this year's government budget as soon as possible, as well as expedite the approval of the SAR Government's application for funding for public works projects submitted to the Finance Committee and its Public Works Subcommittee. (Finish)