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Following is the transcript of the media session (English portion) given by the Financial Secretary, Mr Antony Leung, after briefing members of the Financial Affairs Panel on the relief measures relating to the atypical pneumonia outbreak at a special meeting in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building this (April 23) afternoon:
Financial Secretary: In today's special Financial Affairs (FA) Panel meeting, we have explained to members the Government's proposal for relieving the economic situation caused by atypical pneumonia. We believe that these proposals have the general support of the Legislative Council members and I thank them for their support. The Government will as soon as possible implement these proposals. If they involve legislative changes, we will present the bills and the necessary amendments to the Legislative Council for them to approve. In particular, the relief loan guarantee scheme - we would like to launch the scheme as quickly as possible so that the affected industries and the affected establishments can be provided with help as soon as possible. We would like to present the proposals to the Legislative Council in the immediate future.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
End/Wednesday, April 23, 2003
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