Skip to main content

Birth, death registrations go online

The Immigration Department will launch new electronic services tomorrow for eligible applicants to complete the entire process of birth or death registrations online, without having to visit a registry in person.   According to the Births & Deaths Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, which will take effect tomorrow, the statutory time limit for the registration of deaths from natural causes is extended from 24 hours to 14 days.   It also removes the requirement for applicants who need to register births or deaths to attend the registries in person, so as to provide a legal basis for the introduction of electronic services for these kinds of registration.   Under the new electronic services, if either parent of a newborn baby is a Hong Kong permanent resident, the parents may submit an application for a birth registration online within 42 days after the birth of their legitimate child.   They may apply for a birth certificate at the same time and choose to receive it by

Growth forecast cut unavoidable: FS

Financial Secretary Paul Chan today said Hong Kong’s economic growth forecast for this year will likely be adjusted downwards, citing the worsening external economic situation arising from the recent interest rate rise.   The US Federal Reserve raised the interest rate by 75 basis points. In Hong Kong, following this upward adjustment in the target range for the US federal funds rate, the Monetary Authority announced that the Base Rate was adjusted upward to 2.75% with immediate effect according to a pre-set formula.   Meeting the media today, Mr Chan said: “The increase in (the) US interest rate, under Hong Kong’s Linked Exchange Rate System, will impact our interest rate. Over the past two months, you have seen the interbank interest rate rise, although the prime rate remains intact.   “The rate and the magnitude of increase in the interest rate depends very much on the liquidity in the market and also the liquidity of individual banks.   “At the moment, we estimate that under the Linked Exchange Rate System, when (the) US interest rate continues to hike, unavoidably we (will) have to increase our interest rate. But the pacing and the magnitude (of rate hikes) need not be on a lockstep basis.”   Looking ahead, Mr Chan said although Hong Kong’s economic performance in the second half of the year should be better than in the first half, the economic growth forecast for the whole year would inevitably have to be adjusted downwards.   “With the increasing interest rate in the US as well as many of the developed economies, the external economic situation will continue to worsen. So the export performance of Hong Kong will naturally be affected.   “On the other hand, if the COVID-19 situation is largely under control, private consumption, with the launch of the 2022 (Phase II) Consumption Voucher Scheme, will have increased momentum in the second half of this year. So by and large, our assessment is that the economic performance of Hong Kong in the second half (of the year) would be better than in the first half.   “But taking the year as a whole, unavoidably we may need to revise our GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast. At the moment, the Government Economist is examining various data and doing an assessment on the economic outlook. The details will be announced in the middle of August.”
http://dlvr.it/SVdXSC

Popular posts from this blog

Legal officer changes proposed

The Government has proposed to amend the law to allow legal officers of the Department of Justice to be appointed as a senior counsel.   At a media session after attending a Legislative Council meeting today, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng explained the rationale behind the Government's proposal.   She said: “Why is it that my colleagues in the Department of Justice - who by their qualifications are solicitors but are actually arguing very well and very efficiently with great eloquence and efficacy in the Court of Final Appeal - are not being recognised when they are actually even better than their counterparts? That has always been something that sometimes troubles me.   “And for that reason, I have always been thinking about how we are going to overcome that problem.   “Now, what really triggers my determination to take this further forward is when one of our Deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions, Vinci Lam, took silk on May 29.   “That really showed that the form
Read more

124 COVID-19 cases reported

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 124 additional COVID-19 cases. More cases were detected in Kwai Chung Estate. There are also more than 70 preliminary positive cases.   Among the newly reported cases, 33 are related to Kwai Chung Estate, bringing the total number of positive and preliminary positive cases in the estate to 276.   One more positive case was found after an earlier confirmed case occurred at Glory Court, Tsuen Wan Garden, both of them live in units 5 but on two different floors. The centre has co-ordinated with related government departments and conducted an inspection today.    It was preliminarily considered that vertical transmission of virus via pipes is involved.   The centre will issue quarantine orders to residents of unit 5 on all floors of the building who resided there during the incubation period of the relevant cases and transfer them to a quarantine facility.   As it is possible that virus might be ejected from the open
Read more

Download Ricepon App on iPhone and Android

I found a very good dining app in Hong Kong. You can use QR Code to order food in restaurant, order takeaway at home and enjoy coupon. iPhone Download : https://tinyurl.com/wywn5lc Android Download : https://tinyurl.com/tnvlug8 Ricepon App Official Website : http://www.gingersoft.com.hk/ricepon-app/
Read more