The Democratic Party surveyed 855 Hongkongers via telephone questionnaire from September 28 to October 16 this year to analyze the economic situation of citizens. The survey found that 50.8 percent of respondents said they had less money despite the government declaring last week that the unemployment rate had declined in the past months.

“Citizens still see living costs increased due to many factors, including inflation, interest rate hikes, and others,” explained Chan Po-ming, a spokesperson for the party's economic policy, “even though the impact of the epidemic has started to alleviate.”

Moreover, around 35 percent of the respondents claimed they used the last consumption voucher for “purchasing daily commodities,” while 8.4 percent said they used it for transportation expenses.

Another 28.5 percent spent the vouchers on dining and hotel accommodations, 9.7 percent reported to have bought luxuries, and 19.4 percent spent it on “other purposes.”

Sixty-nine percent of respondents hoped for a new round of consumption vouchers issued by the government, according to the survey.

“The consumption vouchers support citizens’ basic living cost to a large extent apart from stimulating spending,” Chan added.