Departing HK residents withdraw $298.8 mln in pension funds in H1, up 13.6% y/y

Hong Kong residents leaving the city for good withdrew an aggregate HK$2.285 billion ($294.79 million) from their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension accounts in the first half of 2020, up 13.6% from the same period a year ago. For the first two quarters of 2020, there was a total number of 13,600 claims. That was compared with an aggregate 13,700 claims during the same period in 2019, withdrawing HK$2.012 billion from the MPF.

There were 6,000 claims withdrawing HK$990 million from the MPF in the second quarter of 2020, compared with 7,600 claims in the first quarter withdrawing HK$1.295 billion, according to the three-month data from Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority released late on Thursday. (https://bit.ly/33Xn6is) The authority said the number of claimants may not be equal to the number of claims as a member may be holding more than one account under the MPF system. The authority did not provide a reason for residents' departure.

Departing residents had withdrawn HK$1.44 billion from MPF in the fourth quarter of 2019, when the city saw unrest and violent clashes as protests over a now-withdrawn extradition bill escalated, which was up 46.1% year-on-year, in the biggest quarterly withdrawal since 2014. In 2014, Hong Kong was rocked by 79 days of protests that paralysed parts of the city as activists stepped up calls for greater democracy.

Demonstrations this year have been far fewer and smaller than the mass protests that rocked the city in the second half of 2019, largely because of coronavirus-related restrictions on gatherings and the impact of a sweeping new security law, analysts say. Beijing's move to directly impose a national security law on Hong Kong has seen many residents rush to secure a back-up plan, as fears grow over the erosion of freedoms promised when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

($1 = 7.7513 Hong Kong dollars)