Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said on Saturday he had to be fiscally prudent when developing the economic policies he announced in last Wednesday’s budget.
Tsang told RTHK programme Hong Kong Letter that extravagant economic policies would fail in the long-term.
“If I spent money extravagantly for the sake of popularly, not only would our generation suffer, but also the next generation,” he said.
Tsang added that fiscal prudence was the principal responsibility of the financial secretary and he had to ensure taxpayers’ money was used in the right areas.
Tsang also said he was “not disappointed” with negative feedback from the public - even people saying the budget lacked new ideas.
“New ideas are not my primary concern. It does not matter if our measures are old, but are able to help the needy and move the city forward,” he told Commercial Radio.