Some senior citizens reflected that the conditions necessary to receive the upcoming MOP8,000 consumption voucher may not be feasible for them to achieve.
In yesterday’s TDM Macau Forum, interviewed residents expressed concern that the conditions were not flexible for their circumstances, given that many are already unemployed and unable to work.
One caller added that the measure is inconvenient for some older adults, since not everyone is willing to spend; thus it will be difficult to use up the remaining discount amount.
The consumption voucher allows a maximum spend of MOP400 per day, MOP300 of which is deducted from the MOP5,000 subsidy, while MOP100 is deducted from the MOP3,000 discount subsidy.
Over the weekend, the government announced that another round of the consumption subsidy will be issued on October 28 as part of the second MOP10 billion stimulus the government announced to combat the effects of the pandemic.
Under the plan, all permanent or non-permanent local residents registered for the third round of consumption subsidies are eligible for the new consumption boosts. With no prior registration needed, MOP8,000 will be automatically paid into the bank accounts of eligible residents.
However, the new funds will be deposited either after a recipient has used both the start-up and discount amounts of the current consumption subsidy, or at the end of the current subsidy period, whichever occurs earlier.
“Residents can consume the remaining discount grant amount depending on their consumption habits. There is no need to rush spending of the money in a short period,” said Lau Kit Lon, head of Business Promotion Division of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT).
“The range for this time allowance is intended to help residents with daily living, not including rent for living and personal outcome,” Lau added.
Lau said that as of September 25, around 110,000 residents were already qualified to receive the allowance that is due to be distributed from next month.
According to Lau, since the government launched several rounds of consumption benefits plans in 2020, over MOP14.4 billion has been granted. Of this, around MOP9.35 billion was injected into small and medium enterprises, which is around 65% of total government spending. Staff Reporter
