Scheme $6,000: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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After seven consecutive years of [[budget surplus]], the Hong Kong Government held a record HK$579 billion in reserve during the 2011 [[financial year]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Equality chief slams budget's ritual giveaways |url=http://topics.scmp.com/news/hk-news-watch/article/Equality-chief-slams-budgets-ritual-giveaways |last1=So |first1=Peter |last2=Chong |first2=Tanna |newspaper=[[South China Morning Post]] |date=21 February 2011 |accessdate=25 June 2012}}</ref> Under pressure to use the money to do more for the elderly and the poor, [[Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)|Financial Secretary]] [[John Tsang]] announced in the 2011–2012 budget on 23 February 2011 a scheme modelled from the 2008–2009 financial year, whereby HK$6,000 were to be deposited into the [[Mandatory Provident Fund (Hong Kong)|Mandatory Provident Fund]] (MPF) account of every [[Hong Kong residents|Hong Kong resident]] whose average monthly income is less than HK$10,000, in a bid to strengthen the public post-retirement prospect. This scheme was estimated to cost the government HK$24 billion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.budget.gov.hk/2011/chi/budget69.html |script-title=zh:2011年至2012年度香港政府財政預算案 (177–178) |language=Chinese |publisher=Hong Kong Government |accessdate=25 June 2012}}</ref>

Dissatisfaction over the proposal led to public criticism and a series of complaints, including the charge that "遠水不能救近火" (Water afarfrom offafar quenchethcannot notextinguish firefires), along with concern over high MPF management fees.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=zh:紓解民困措施未到位 預算案與期望有落差 |url=http://news.sina.com.hk/news/6/1/1/2024239/1.html |newspaper=[[Ming Pao]] |language=Chinese |date=24 February 2011 |accessdate=25 June 2012}}</ref> [[Bipartisanship]] pressures from members of the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong]] called for a modification of the proposal to make direct cash payment to the public, similar to the [[Wealth Partaking Scheme]] operated by the [[Government of Macau]] since 2008.

On 2 March 2011, Tsang announced Scheme $6,000 cancelling the original proposed MPF plan. The estimated cost of the scheme is HK$36 billion.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=zh:德勤料本年度港府財政盈餘近300億元 |url=http://www.hkcna.hk/content/2011/1104/119260.shtml |newspaper=Hong Kong China News Agency |language=Chinese |date=4 November 2011 |accessdate=25 June 2012}}</ref> Despite this, public anger were not entirely satisfied leading to the [[2011 Hong Kong anti-budget demonstration]] 4 days later.