, Columnist
Hong Kong Shifts Aim From the Virus to Property
The budget looks less focused on fighting the outbreak than on buoying the real estate market.
Hong Kongers will receive HK$10,000 handouts.
Photographer: Dale de la Rey/AFP/Getty
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If the quantum of public spending alone decided the seriousness with which small, open Asian economies are fighting the coronavirus, then Hong Kong’s HK$120 billion ($15.4 billion) package ought to be three times punchier than rival Singapore’s.
When it comes to the quality of expenditure and the financing, though, Hong Kong’s plan seems to be less about protecting lives and livelihoods, and more about preserving the island’s frothy property market.