Shoppers hunt for bargains in a grocery store that is offering 50-percent discounts in Hong Kong on June 16, 2020. Hong Kong authorities announced on the same day that the unemployment rate in the city reached 5.9 percent between March and May, the highest level in 15 years, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. Photo: cnsphoto

HK$40 billion ($5.16 billion), the early fruits of Hong Kong cash incentives, will arrive in the hands of 4.3 million Hong Kong residents this week, said Hong Kong Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Sunday.

The residents will receive the cash in their bank accounts within the next two to three days, the finance secretary announced in his weekly updated blog, predicting "a golden period for consumption in the next two months."

Chan expects a big boost in consumer spending in the city's retail and catering industries, which will also boost employment. 

He said the cash incentive will serve as a catalyst for consumption instead of ending up in people's saving accounts.

"With favorable measures and factors… we could see the light of economic recovery in latter half of the year," he wrote.

The government has so far received requests for the cash incentive from 5.76 million residents, according to the official.