Public Finance

Financial Secretary John Tsang defends his budget amid criticism

3 Mar 2013

He emphasised the 16 per cent increase in government spending over the next financial year, saying it was rare for a government anywhere to be lifting expenditure.

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Briefs, March 3, 2013

3 Mar 2013

Britain's Queen Elizabeth is recovering after coming down with a stomach bug that forced the cancellation of a royal engagement. The 86-year-old monarch yesterday cancelled a visit to Swansea,...

So, how well did John Tsang listen?

3 Mar 2013

Tsang cannot be faulted for trying hard to plough back no less than HK$33 billion of the anticipated fiscal surplus of over HK$64 billion to those identified by the government as being most in...

2 comments

John Tsang again delivers overly cautious budget

28 Feb 2013

Delivering a budget with new thinking has proved to be a challenge for John Tsang Chun-wah. While the veteran finance chief managed to provide some short-term relief for the needy without losing...

At last Tsang accepts that our fiscal policy needs an overhaul

28 Feb 2013

At least some of the criticism directed at John Tsang Chun-wah recently must have stung. In his budget speech yesterday, the financial secretary attempted to defend his piecemeal approach to...

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Beijing wise to keep its central banker

News that central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan will stay in his post despite reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 should be welcomed in China and overseas. It would be hard to name another...

Budget must watch out for Hong Kong's middle class

We have become a pear-shaped society, with a swollen lower class and a shrinking middle class, the former trapped by impotent rage and the latter resigned to their fate in which the Hong Kong...

7 comments

Budget promises bounty, but relief measures likely smaller

Relief measures, including the waiver of property rates and public housing rents, as well as a tax rebate, are expected to be unveiled by Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah in the current...

9 comments

BUDGET

Hong Kong political, charity groups urge using budget surplus on poor

Financial Secretary John Tsang had forecast a HK$3.4 billion deficit for the fiscal year, but revenue from land sales and stamp duties resulted in a HK$40 billion surplus in just the first three...

3 comments

LEADER

Obama needs to find consensus in second term

A second-term US president's first state-of-the-union address after re-election is traditionally a rallying cry to unite the country behind a common goal and build a legacy on the foundations of...

LEADER

Hong Kong should revamp muddled fiscal structure

The huge budget surpluses that Hong Kong regularly clocks up are a wonder to governments elsewhere. While they struggle to balance their books, our coffers are positively bulging, and increasingly...