Gov’t to create 10 billion patacas fund to tackle Covid-19 fallout

The government has decided on the creation of a community relief fund worth 10 billion patacas, the Government Information Bureau informed in a statement.

The fund, which will be managed and distributed via the Macao Foundation, aims to enhance the financial support to both Macau residents and local businesses affected by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the statement, the government said that the fund comes as an emergency response in light of the enforcement of border restriction measures adopted by Hong Kong as well as Guangdong Province.

For the time being no details were disclosed on how the fund would operate and who would be eligible for this new support measure with the government leaving such information for a future announcement to be made shortly after its establishment, the government said.

Advancing briefly on the reasons that justify the fund, the government said,

“Such steps are to provide timely support to those residents and businesses in need of urgent financial assistance, to stabilize the local economy and to ensure employment among local residents,” the government advanced in the statement.

The new measure follows a raft of other measures announced previously with the purpose of propping up Macau’s reeling economy. The aim is to ease the burden on both residents and small businesses.

According to the government estimation, the previous measures involve aggregate financial support of up to 40 billion patacas and included waivers or reductions of certain taxes, support for SMEs regarding certain types of loans, double payment of government subsidies and incentives for consumer consumption. The latter includes an electronic voucher scheme worth 3,000 patacas that will start to be distributed to all registered Macau residents next month.

Renato Marques