An extra round of e-vouchers and salary subsidy for eligible employees, among other financial subsidies, will be issued later this year, Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance has announced at the government’s daily press conference.
The new round of e-voucher will be issued from August this year. Eligible Macau residents, permanent and non-permanent, will receive MOP5,000 worth of vouchers to be spent in Macau. It is believed that the criteria and requirements will remain unchanged from the first round of e-voucher scheme. The extra e-voucher will cost the government MOP3.6 billion. It is not part of the 10 billion economic relief fund earlier announced by the government.
On the other hand, the government will subsidise all eligible employees with a maximum of MOP15,000 for their salaries.
In addition, eligible SMEs can apply for a subsidy ranging from MOP15,000 to MOP200,000. Companies that operate several outlets may receive at most MOP1 million. According to the government, 90% of corporations registered in Macau are SMEs.
All new subsidies will amount to 12% of the city’s annual GDP.
— 18:48 update
Lei Wai Nong, Secretary for Economy and Finance, thanks the contributions made by non-resident workers to Macau. This comment was given as he was questioned by the press about the foundation on which such workers were not, and will not be, included in government’s subsidy scheme.
In addition, the secretary stressed that employees who earned more than MOP60,000 per month, or MOP720,000 per year, in 2018, will be excluded from the special salary support scheme. The base of calculation is 25% of the current median salary, which is MOP20,000; of which 25% equates to MOP5,000. The salary support will, in theory, cover three months of salary. This is how the amount of MOP15,000 was calculated by the government.
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