Visitors walk along the Hong Kong Observation Wheel in Central, Hong Kong on August 19. Photo: Lu Wenao/GT

The Hong Kong government on Tuesday released a third round of relief measures worth of HK$2 billion ($255 million), in the latest move to help address the city's economic woes amid months-long unrest.Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced at a press conference, one week after the Chief Executive's 2019 policy address, that new relief policies would include about HK$2 billionin rent concessions and fuel subsidies to industries such as logistics, retail and tourism, which have been hit hardest during the ongoing riot.The new measures together with previous relief aimed to provide a 2 percent impetus to Hong Kong's economy.Chan said that the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) government would offer fuel subsidies for six months to 61,000 vehicles including cabs and red vans, involving about 130,000 car owners and requiring HK$1.365 billion in funding.The city administration would also extend a previously announced rent concession, Chan said.The rent concession would extend to areas such as public fee-paying parking lots managed by the government, shopping malls as well as restaurants and retail stores managed by the city's leisure and cultural services department, at a cost of HK$600 million.Tourism policies will be announced after consultation with the travel industry and the Hong Kong commerce and economic development bureau, Chan said.Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced a new package of policies in her annual policy address on October 16, which largely focuses on addressing social and economic challenges including housing, infrastructure and healthcare.Chinese mainland analysts saw the government's efforts as an attempt to restore economic stability.The policies are expected to support Hong Kong's economy in the short term, but the prolonged social unrest will have a far-reaching influence on the city's commerce, and therefore must come to an end, Timothy Kwai Ting-kong, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday."Since airlines cut ticket prices in August, we have seen a rise in tourist numbers from small-source countries like Eastern Europe," Kwai said. "It's expected that the government's policies can help boost Hong Kong's tourism sector during the upcoming Christmas travel season," he said.It was also a good sign that some large developers had cut rent for retailers at some shopping malls, Kwai noted.Liang Haiming of the Belt and Road Institute at Hainan University, suggested the government's own property, public and private organizations should provide rental subsidies to companies, extend more loans to companiesand assist smaller enterprises.Liang noted that ending violence and a return to normal social order was the fundamental solution to Hong Kong's economic downward pressure.Hong Kong announced a HK$19.1 billion package of relief policies in August and a HK$42.9 billion package in the 2019-20 budget, Chan blogged on Sunday.Some 220 initiatives were proposed in Lam's October 16 policy address, focused on housing, land supply, improving the public livelihood and economic development.