In the past year, Hong Kong bankers can be said to have really had a hard time.
According to a recent study, it is estimated that more bankers in Hong Kong will lose their jobs in the future in 2023.
This is the second negative news with a greater impact after Hong Kong fell to the 10th place in the world in the first quarter of the IPO fund ranking.
Source: Hong Kong Economic Times
And the study also specifically mentioned that the main reason for the layoffs is because of theirs!
Yes, they are paid more than their Singaporean counterparts, but this is also a disadvantage for them to keep their jobs. (In other words, multinational banks may prioritize reducing manpower in Hong Kong when controlling costs.) ）
Some media also lamented:
"Hong Kong's bankers, who were once dominant five years ago, are now a lost generation. ”
However, at present, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has announced five measures to support Hong Kong's financial market, vigorously supporting Hong Kong's capital market, and looking forward to rejuvenating Hong Kong's financial market.
Hong Kong's financial industry is sluggish, and as more and more "Hong Kong people go north", .
01
Hong Kong's Local Retail Industry: Consumption Downgrade!
Before, many people were stunned by the appearance of 5 yuan for a cup of ice cream and 11 yuan for lemon black tea in Mong Kok, but now, in this area where every inch of land is valuable, even a 10 yuan cup of coffee has appeared...
Source: Hong Kong Economic Times
In addition to the big sale of affordable coffee, the restaurant of two sides of rice is also full of people, and it seems that they all reveal:
In Hong Kong, there has been a downgrade in consumption!
However, some media pointed out:
Consumption downgrading does not necessarily need to be pessimistic, but it is still beneficial.
Like what.
The downgrade in consumption also means that consumers are starting to cut back on higher-priced imports and look for cheaper alternatives.
Taking Chinese mainland as an example, the market downturn has affected the performance and stock prices of Starbucks and L'Oreal, but it has driven the performance of Yum China and Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retailing and their stock prices higher.
Some mainland brands targeting the common people are expected to continue to expand their business in Hong Kong. For example, low-cost tea brands have continued to benefit from changes in Hong Kong people's consumption habits, and have continued to do so recently.
Source: Sing Tao Headlines
In the mainland, McDonald's, which has benefited from the consumption downgrade, plans to open 1,000 new stores in China this year and expand its business to third- and fourth-tier cities.
As more mainland brands enter Hong Kong, the tragic situation of empty shops in Hong Kong is also expected to be alleviated.
Another example,.
Usually, consumption is downgraded, and the market will gradually turn to low-end structural development.
This not only means that there will be more demand for low-end industries, but also that more high-end human resources will be released to relatively low-end industries!
For example.
In recent years, there have been former five-star hotel chefs who opened French cafes in the market to sell croissants, and former stock traders who changed careers to cook two-sided meals, etc., which means that under the phenomenon of consumption downgrade.
Source: Hong Kong Economic Times
However, in the eyes of many legislators in Hong Kong, these "two benefits" are undoubtedly a concrete embodiment of the "Ah Q spirit".
On 25 April, the Legislative Council held a second reading debate on this year's Budget, but there were.
02
Legislator: The Hong Kong government should support local businesses
For example, there is insufficient support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Hong Kong.
In the first quarter of this year, more than 20,000 companies in Hong Kong were deregistered, a year-on-year increase of more than 70%, and the number of winding-up petitions also increased significantly during the same period!
Hong Kong companies are closed, and employees are asking for wages...
When an employer is unable to pay his debts, an employee may go to court to seek a winding-up or bankruptcy petition against the employer to recover unpaid wages, unused annual leave pay, unused statutory holiday pay, wages in lieu of notice and/or severance payment.
At the same time, employees may apply for ex-gratia payments for payment of unpaid wages, unused annual leave pay, unused statutory holiday pay, wages in lieu of notice and/or severance payment.
According to the Labour Department, 3,293 applications were received to the Fund last year, and 3,545 cases were approved, representing an increase of 64% from 2,167 cases in 2022.
As of December last year, the default fund still accumulated a surplus of 7,258.5 million yuan.
In addition to this, there has also been an increase in the number of cases from employers.
According to the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, this is about 1 to 20% higher than that of the previous two years!
Source: Dongwang
Therefore, parliamentarians are also concerned that:
Amid high global interest rates, uncertain economic outlook and weak local consumption,!
As a result, the MP pointed out:
"We must provide support to small and medium-sized enterprises in Hong Kong!"
On the one hand, it is suggested that the Hong Kong government can;
On the other hand, it is recommended that regulators should remind financial institutions from time to time to comprehensively review the future planning or development prospects of SMEs, assess their ability to continue operations, extend loans or adjust interest rates, etc.
However, the member believes that in order to fully support SMEs, the most important thing is to consolidate Hong Kong's advantages as an international financial centre and an offshore RMB centre, and to expand into new areas in different financial sectors.
Source: Dot News
In addition, some legislators suggested that more visitors should come to Hong Kong in order to achieve two-way travel, including allowing more mainland cities to come to Hong Kong, increasing the length of stay and expanding the duty-free allowance.
However, I found that a strange phenomenon happened:
Even though Hong Kong's local retail industry is currently in trouble.
03
Hong Kong Economic Index: Still Rising
On 18 April, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) of the HKSAR Government announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 2.9% in December 2023 to February 2024 to 3% in January and March 2024.
It can be seen that although the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has risen recently, it has been very small, only 0.1%, which is still at a low level overall.
On 28 April, the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, published a blog post introducing:
"The SAR government will release the estimated GDP for the first quarter this week, and it is estimated that it will. ”
Source: Dot News
Therefore, I would like to discuss with you:
presently
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