(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-24 00:07

MACAO  -- Permanent and non-permanent residents of Macao will received one-off cash subsidies of 5,000 patacas (628 US dollars) and 3,000 patacas respectively starting from July this year, said a spokesperson of the Special Administrative Region's (SAR) Executive Council on Friday.

Considering the city's buoyant economy and satisfactory fiscal income in recent years, the SAR government decided to introduce the cash subsidy scheme in order to share the economic gains with the residents, said Tong Chi Kin, spokesperson of the Executive Council, at a press conference.

Residents with Macao Identification Cards are entitled to the cash subsidy, the scheme of which was announced last month by the SAR Chief Executive, Ho Hau Wah, when addressing questions from local lawmakers at the Legislative Assembly. The scheme is expected to cost the government 2.6 billion patacas.

But some experts have voiced their concern over the scheme, saying large influx of cash into the local market will only further drive up the current inflation hike that the government said is the main reason for the distribution of cash subsidy.

Macao's inflation rate as measured by the composite consumer price index in April this year rose by 8.72 percent year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the SAR's Statistics and Census Bureau.

Earlier, Secretary for Economy and Finance, Tam Pak Yuen, told the press that distributing subsidies is a reasonable way to help ease the inflationary pressures on local residents, as Macao's established free economic regime leaves the government with limited macro-regulatory approaches.