A government commission tasked with deciding the controversial new wage floor -- an issue which has divided business and labour groups for more than a decade -- said this week it had settled on a figure, which it did not disclose.

Local media quoted unnamed sources as saying the hourly figure was 28 or 29 Hong Kong dollars (3.60 or 3.73 US dollars), far below that in major cities in the US and Europe.

Concern about a growing income gap -- which the UN Development Programme last year pegged as the world's biggest among wealthy economies -- prompted the government to introduce Hong Kong's first minimum wage, which is scheduled to come into effect next year.

Business groups in the southern Chinese territory warned that labour leaders' demands for 33 Hong Kong dollars an hour would lead to widespread job losses among poor workers.

"We remain firm on our demand that the minimum wage should be no less than 33 Hong Kong dollars an hour," Cheung Lai-ha, a vice-chairwoman of the Confederation of Trade Unions, told the South China Morning Post Wednesday.

"We will try every means to achieve what we think is right for workers."

Thomas Woo, a vice-president of the Hong Kong Catering Industry Association, said even 28 Hong Kong dollars could put the squeeze on the city's myriad small restaurants.

"If the hourly wage is 28 Hong Kong dollars, many restaurants may be forced to charge their customers more," Woo told the Post.

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