The government has announced that it will start paying the 637,892 beneficiaries of its annual “wealth sharing” scheme on July 2, which will cost the government about 4.88 billion patacas.
Leong Heong Teng, spokesman for the 10-member advisory Executive Council (ExCo), said during a press conference on Friday that the government had completed a by-law regarding the scheme.
According to the scheme, all permanent residents will receive a cash handout of 8,000 patacas this year, up from 7,000 patacas last year; non-permanent residents will receive 4,800 patacas, up from 4,200 patacas last year. The scheme was started in 2008.
According to the government, students who receive a government subsidy, retired public servants and residents who receive subsidies from the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) will receive their cash by bank transfer on July 2, followed by those who receive an IAS special subsidy for people aged 65 or above. Everybody else will start receiving their money from July 8. Most beneficiaries will receive their “wealth-sharing” cheque by mail.
Macau’s population stood at 582,000 at the end of last year, including about 110,000 imported workers who are not entitled to the cash handout.
However, permanent and non-permanent residents not living in Macau are entitled to the handout.
Tens of thousands of Macau residents live in Hong Kong, the mainland and Taiwan as well as foreign countries such as Portugal, the US, Canada, Brazil and Australia.
There are no age or nationality restrictions to the scheme.(macaunews)
