Happy Hong Kong? Singapore’s Gone Laughing to the Bank
The different pace of post-pandemic recovery has created a big gulf in the economic priorities and prospects of the rival Asian financial centers.
Because we’re happy.
Photographer: Lam Yik/BloombergIn his two-hour-long budget address Wednesday, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan didn’t mention “Covid-19” once. Even if you threw in related words like “epidemic,” the count came to 24, the lowest in three years. Taking the speech as a proxy for the emphasis the city places on the pathogen, Chan did a sterling job of turning the public’s gaze away from it. The new campaign that replaces that prolonged — and eventually futile — battle to contain the scourge is titled, “Happy Hong Kong.”
Just how joyous can the Asian financial center be this year? There’s little doubt that the economic reopening will fill stores, restaurants and the airport with visitors, who’ll be lured with freebies like shopping and dining privileges. Local residents will join in the fun, too, at least to spend the $637 consumption vouchers that Chan announced for them in the budget. On the job-creation front, China’s post-pandemic revival will also benefit the special administrative region in 2023, especially its financial services industry.