Hong Kong’s poverty situation is a matter of relative poverty that is correlated to the city’s economy.

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong made the remark today after discussing Hong Kong’s latest poverty rate on a radio programme.

“The figures are very much related to ‘relative poverty’. In fact, it is more likely to have an increase in relative poverty when the economy grows. When the economy contracts, there is always a possibility that the relative poverty actually drops.

“So, it is a matter of relative poverty, but whenever we talk about poverty figures, we tend to always bear in mind that we are talking about ‘absolute poverty’ but in fact we are not. We are talking about relative poverty.”