news.gov.hk - Top Story - From Hong Kong's
Measures are in the pipeline to boost the liquidity of the stock market and inject additional funds to support small and medium enterprises, Financial Secretary
He pointed out that the Government has created favourable conditions for recovery.
Property Market
Concerning the residential property market, one such example includes when the Government announced, on
The relevant adjustments included shortening the applicable period of the Special Stamp Duty (SSD) from three years to two years, reducing the rates of the Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) and the New Residential Stamp Duty (NRSD) by half, and introducing a stamp duty suspension arrangement for incoming talents' acquisition of residential properties.
Among such measures, the stamp duty suspension arrangement has been well received, with over 500 applications approved.
"We have been keeping a close watch on the residential property market. After prudent consideration of the overall current situation, we decided to cancel all demand-side management measures for residential properties with immediate effect, that is, no SSD, BSD or NRSD needs to be paid for any residential property transactions starting from today.
"We consider that the relevant measures are no longer necessary amidst the current economic and market conditions.
"The
Taking into account the external and local economic situation,
He added that the HKMA will make announcements later today.
Stock Market
With respect to the stock market,
"We joined hands with regulators and
"Regarding attracting overseas enterprises to be listed in
He explained that the Government is ardently taking forward recommendations by the
"We are actively implementing measures proposed, last October, by the
Additionally, the
Such measures include enhancing the listing regime which entails exploring and enhancing the process of price discovery in the initial public offering of shares and reviewing requirements for the public float of shares of listed companies to boost market efficiency.
Another measure will improve the transaction mechanism which calls for exploring reducing the minimum trading spread to narrow bid-ask spreads, with the proposal to be submitted in the second quarter; enhancing stock-trading units adopted in the cash market as the next step; and making further adjustments to the position limits and margin requirements of derivative products to better meet risk-management needs.
Boosting investor services is an added measure. It will explore refining real-time, market-data services, to provide investors with targeted services at a reasonable price.
The final measure concerns stepping up market promotion. As such, HKEX will strengthen the promotion of
The Financial Secretary emphasised that to further enhance market competitiveness, stamp duties payable on the transfer of real estate investment trust units and the jobbing business of option market-makers will be waived. It is estimated that this will reduce government revenue by about
Assisting Small and Medium Enterprises
Taking into consideration that the strength of
SME Financing Guarantee Scheme
"To assist SMEs in tackling their capital-flow problems, I will extend the application period for the 80% and 90% Guarantee Products under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme for two years to the end of
"In addition, I have instructed the HKMA to maintain close communication with banks and the commercial sectors, adopt an accommodating manner to help enterprises tide over their liquidity needs, and refrain from demanding repayment of loans due to a fall in collateral value."
Digital Transformation
With regard to digital transformation, he stated that SMEs in the food and beverage industry and the retail industry will be invited to select suitable options among ready-to-use basic digital solutions and apply for subsidies on a matching basis early this year under the Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme.
The solutions will focus on three areas such as digital payment and shopfront sales, online promotion and customer-management solutions. It is expected that at least 8,000 eligible SMEs will benefit from the pilot programme.
"I propose to inject
Deduction of Expenses and Allowances under Profits Tax
The Government also proposes to introduce two enhancement measures for the deduction of expenses under profits tax.
"As regards the allowances for industrial buildings and structures as well as commercial buildings and structures, the time limit for claiming the allowances will be removed.
"This will allow the new owner to claim allowances for the property after a change of ownership, subject to factors such as the construction cost of the property and the balancing charge of its previous owner."
Both enhancement measures will take effect from the year of assessment 2024-25.
.
(C) 2024 M2 COMMUNICATIONS, source