Government to spend MOP6.2b on handouts for 710,000 residents

Executive Council spokesperson Leong Heng Teng

The annual cash handout from the government, included in the Wealth Partaking Scheme for 2018, will benefit a total of 710,000 eligible residents costing the government some MOP6.2 billion, the Executive Council (ExCo) spokesperson, Leong Heng Teng, said yesterday at a press conference. The briefing was held by ExCo at the government’s headquarters to report the conclusion of an analysis by the executive of three administrative regulations and one law review.

The figure raised doubt among the media at the press conference, who questioned the spokesperson as to how such a high number of Macau residents were found to be eligible.

Attempting to clarify the figure of the number of beneficiaries, which has been showing numbers over the 650,000 mark since 2015, Leong said, “in this figure are not only the Macau residents living in Macau but also some that are living abroad and that are also eligible [to receive a share on the wealth partaking scheme].”

Leong then elaborated further, adding that according to the figures he had to hand, in the previous year the government issued approximately 64,000 cash handouts to Macau residents living abroad.

But to the media, the figure still seemed to be far higher than the official figures that record an approximate number of local residents living in the region of 537,000 as of 2016.

Leong noted that “these are the figure[s] we have from the Statistics [and Census Bureau],” adding that the real number of the beneficiaries will only be known after this year’s program distribution finishes, a time when the government would have the final figures as to the number of people that actually received and cashed their cheques.

Nevertheless, and according to the official government figures on the scheme, every year the rate of completion of the process, with the transference of the money into the residents’ accounts, is in between 98.5 and 99 percent.

At the press conference, Leong mentioned that this year, and after the evaluation conducted by the government on its financial status, it was decided – and previously announced by the Chief Executive, Chui Sai On – that the wealth partaking scheme would continue in the same way as in 2017, granting to all holders of a Macau ID card until December 31, 2017 the amounts of MOP9,000 or MOP5,400, respectively to the permanent and non-permanent titles.

Remaining unchanged are also the rules of attribution, the scheduling and the means of receiving the handouts that will begin to be distributed on July 3 to all beneficiaries of the elderly subsidy by automatic transfer, a process that follows the usual timeline. That is, usually pension receivers are considered first, then civil servants and older age residents and for 10 consecutive weeks until September 14,  by which time cheques should have been issued for residents born between 2012 and 2017.

Another of the topics under analysis by the ExCo is the one related to another of the measures started by the government to subsidize some residents with lower income.

The “Temporary Measures for the Income Subsidy” scheme that will also continue into 2018, is now proposed by the government to be introduced as part of what concerns the application of such a subsidy.

Previously, these regulations stated that in order to apply, applicants needed to be registered by the Social Security Fund as hired laborers or employees until the end of the previous year. Now the government plans to change that requirement to require instead this status to last until the last quarter in which they are filing the application. With this change, the government is said to benefit people with handicaps who are concluding professional training courses, as well as other hired workers with low income.

As for the amount of the subsidy, it remains unchanged, allowing for a full complement in line with the salary ceiling of MOP5,000 per month.

It is proposed that the administrative regulation would enter into force on the next day after its publication, with retroactive effects dating back to January, 1 2018.

On the topic, the ExCo spokesperson noted also that the government registered a “[drastic] reduction” in the number of applicants to this subsidy in the last three years; in 2015 there were 1,197 applicants per quarter, but in 2016 there were 341 applicants per quarter. This discrepancy is related to the commencement of the application of the minimum wage for cleaning and security staff.

Leong also added that it “is the intention of the government to transform these temporary measures into permanent mechanisms,” noting that the timing for such a transformation has to be “coordinated with long-term measures.”

Questioned also by the media as to whether, during the analysis of this administrative regulation, the extension of the minimum wage to all other professions was discussed, Leong said, “The Secretary [for Economy and Finance] has already addressed that matter. When the time to discuss that arrives we will inform [the public]. I can say that is a topic that is already in study within the Secretariat of Economy and Finance.”

Also related to social welfare, it was announced that the government plans to cancel the current Temporary Disability Subsidy, turning it into a permanent measure in which the beneficiaries start receiving the Disability Pension from the Social Security’s normal regime.

Such a change will come under a change to the law of the Social Security Regime, which also eliminates the requirement to possess “certification of the disability only after the granting of the requirements to be a beneficiary.” In this way, the government eases the process, providing all people with a proven incapacity with a means of receiving the disability pension.