More than 6,000 people have applied for the financial support plan for local workers, the self-employed and businesses, Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council deputy convener Ng Hong Kei has announced.
Some 1,738 have been approved, while about 900 applicants have already received the subsidy.
The first round of the financial support plan, which aims to minimise the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people’s lives and the economy, was announced in mid-June and distribution started on 17 August.
A one-off subsidy of MOP 15,000 was granted to employees who earned up to MOP 600,000 in 2020 and 2021, including those who were underemployed, laid-off, engaged in part-time work or dismissed during the Covid-19 pandemic, while an assistance payment of at least MOP 15,000 and at most MOP 300,000 was granted to freelancers if their income in 2021 did not exceed MOP 240,000.
Business operators were granted a minimum of MOP 30,000 and a maximum of MOP 500,000, calculated on the basis of 10 per cent of the average of the reported operating costs of the business for the years 2019 to 2021.
Speaking after the council’s closed-door meeting with officials from the Economic and Technology Development Bureau and Finance Services Bureau, Ng quoted the officials as saying that applicants for the financial support plan must submit all their information on or before 31 March next year, with the hope that all applications could be approved before 30 June next year.
According to both bureaus, the financial support to employers is distributed based on their taxpayer identification number, or their commerce and movable property registration number. Thereby, companies with several taxpayer numbers will be granted the corresponding amounts for each number.
Ng noted that the MOP 8,000 living allowance will start to be distributed to residents’ registered mobile payment platforms on 28 October, once the start-up funds and discount allowance for the government’s recent electronic consumption benefits scheme have been used up. He underlined that the deadline for receiving the living allowance is 2 March next year.
According to the officials from the Economic and Technology Development Bureau, residents holding e-consumption cards must top up their cards for the living allowance on or before 8 April next year, underlining that the latest date of using the MOP 8,000 living allowance is 30 June 2023.
Ng pointed out that the living allowance cannot be used for pawnshop deals or gambling, medical, banking and insurance services, The Macau Post Daily reported.
