Illustration：Tang Tengfei/GT

Amid continued bad-mouthing from Western media over Hong Kong's economy and anti-coronavirus measures during the ongoing fifth wave caused by Omicron, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Wednesday announced its budget for fiscal 2022/23, a spending plan of more than HK$170 billion ($21.8 billion) to combat the pandemic and boost business confidence.

"At this critical time, we need to direct more resources to relieve people's hardship and provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with some breathing space so as to stabilize the economy and maintain public confidence," Hong Kong Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said during his budget speech.

Hong Kong's new budget is expected to largely relieve the pressure on the financial hub's virus-hit economy in many aspects. Short-term relief program include another round of consumer vouchers for local residents and a series of beneficial measures to boost retail, catering and other struggling industries. 

In addition, the new budget also eyes the future economic recovery, which will further strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international financial center.

The budget has received positive reception in the SAR since its announcement. Many believe that the relief measures of the spending plan will mean appropriate resources to be made available to improve Hong Kong's economy. And, they expect that the plan could be passed and relevant measures could be implemented as soon as possible.

Hong Kong's new budget serves as a strong response to the recent foreign media's bad-mouthing of Hong Kong's local economy. The Western media have spared no effort to attack Hong Kong's economy, and have ratcheted up their attacks since the latest outbreak of Omicron wave there.

In recent weeks, Western media have been using sensational headlines almost every day to exaggerate the impact of the virus on the local economy and people's livelihood, or playing up fabricated "foreign business exodus," in attempt to undermine Hong Kong's status as a global financial center.

The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said in a report last month that Hong Kong may not reopen until early 2024 due to the strict anti-epidemic rules, and it could trigger an exodus of foreign companies and employees which will damage its status as a financial center.

However, such wishful prediction of the Western naysayers has never come true. Facts have repeatedly proved that foreign companies' confidence in Hong Kong is strong. 

For instance, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters recently said that the bank has no plans to shift executives out of Hong Kong and is making a $300 million bet on greater flows of capital to the city as the Chinese mainland's financial markets further open up.

Admittedly, an acute COVID-19 resurgence has hammered consumer confidence and dealt a blow to local economy in the short term. Paul Chan Mo-po said the city's economic performance in the first quarter was "not optimistic" during the budget announcement. Yet, just as the Standard Chartered CEO put it, Hong Kong's economy "will be fine."

Hong Kong's economic resilience has been fully demonstrated amid the global economic downturn caused by the pandemic. In 2021, Hong Kong's economic rebound surpassed the global average growth despite lingering pandemic-related disruptions. Hong Kong's economy is expected to grow 2-3.5 percent this year, the city's financial chief has estimated during the budget announcement.

With the strong support of the mainland, Hong Kong SAR will bring the latest coronavirus outbreak under control and minimize the economic impact as soon as possible. Given the city's unique advantages as an international financial center and the huge opportunities to be created by the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) which emphasizes closer economic integration between Hong Kong and the mainland, the region's economic prospects are promising. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn