'Restaurants won't benefit as much from new vouchers'
A catering sector representative on Monday said he thinks Hongkongers will use less of their next government spending vouchers in restaurants than they did in previous rounds and will put the money towards daily necessities instead. People will get electronic vouchers worth HK$3,000 from April 16, and another HK$2,000 from July 16. Simon Wong, the president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, told an RTHK programme that he estimates his sector will see around 20 percent of the money, down from 25 percent to 30 percent in previous rounds. He said there are various reasons for this, including people spending less and travelling more. "More than 500,000 Hong Kong citizens have travelled abroad in February this year. Previously, the vast majority of the seven million people in Hong Kong stayed and consumed locally. This has already had a direct impact," he said. "From an economic perspective, we can see that the economy has not yet fully recovered and many citizens are relatively cautious in their spending." Wong said if the government gave out all HK$5,000 in one go before Easter, people would be more willing to spend some cash. Meanwhile, lawmaker Gary Zhang said senior citizens who recently switched their Octopus cards to JoyYou cards are having a hard time figuring out how to fill in online application forms to obtain the vouchers. "After the government's announcement last week, we have already scheduled a meeting with Octopus Cards Limited. We may meet this week to discuss any better technical solutions that can help the elderly obtain the consumption voucher more easily, as many of them are very worried," Zhang said.