The Legislative Assembly (AL) passed its 2nd 2022 budget amendment bill yesterday in a plenary session by video conference, allowing the government to allocate 35.1 billion patacas from the Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) special reserves to tackle the rising cost of COVID-19 prevention and control measures and financial support measures for residents and businesses.
The video conference was held due to the government’s restrictions on people’s movements during its special COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
During the four-hour review and debate of the government-initiated budget amendment bill, 29 votes were cast in favour, two against and one abstention, which allows the government’s financial support programme to get off the ground next month at the earliest.
The Legislative Assembly has 32 members, 14 directly elected, 12 indirectly elected and seven appointed by the chief executive.
According to the bill, the government proposed to allocate 10 billion patacas for COVID-19 prevention and control measures and financial support for the community. Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said that the budget reinforcement was needed because of the “uncertainty” created by the current COVID-19 outbreak and the need for the government to use the additional funds as back-up spending on pandemic prevention and control measures and financial support for residents and businesses alike.
Some lawmakers urged the government to clarify how the additional 10 billion patacas would be spent, and Lei said that it would be used to boost the local economy, so that residents’ employment can be ensured.
Lei added that the government needed time to announce its plans for how the 10 billion patacas will be spent, as there were different opinions in civil society on how the money should be allocated.
According to the bill, the government proposed to allocate 856 million patacas from the MSAR special reserves to grant employees, freelancers and business operators financial support.
This includes, according to the bill, a one-off subsidy of 15,000 patacas to be granted to eligible employees who earnt up to 600,000 patacas in 2020 and 2021.
Financial Services Bureau (DSF) Director Iong Kong Leong told the lawmakers that the government has no plan to expand the ceiling for taxpayers to receive the financial aid, as “those earning more than 600,00 patacas in 2020 and 2021 have a relatively strong ability to withstand economic adversity”.
Lei added that the financial support was not meant for everyone, but to help those who are underemployed, on unpaid leave, not fully employed, unable to work as they live in the city’s Red and Yellow Code areas, but was aimed at tiding to “tide them over”.
According to the bill, the government proposed to allocate 1.3 billion patacas from the MSAR special reserves for the operation of public entities, comprising 600 million patacas for COVID-19 prevention and control expenditure by the Health Bureau (SSM), 280 million patacas for subsistence measures by the Municipal Affairs Bureau’s (IAM), and 450 billion patacas for the city’s Tourism Fund to pay the quarantine hotels for their services.
Lei noted that in the past three years, including the two budget amendments, the government has allocated 167.8 billion patacas for the COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
Iong noted that after the second budget amendment, the MSAR’s remaining special reserves amounted to 557.3 billion patacas.
The Legislative Assembly (AL) passes the government’s 2nd 2022 budget amendment bill yesterday through a video conference to help the government tackle the rising COVID-19-related expenditure and provide financial support to residents and businesses. – Video grab from AL
