The Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang echoed remarks by the Financial Secretary that the Government would maintain a prudent fiscal policy.
Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen hinted on Saturday that there would not be tax cuts in the Budget on February 18.
On her return from a trip to the United States and Canada, Mrs Chan said the most talked-about topic was the Asian financial turmoil.
'All the political leaders and the business chief executive officers whom I met were first of all greatly encouraged by how smoothly the whole transition has gone and encouraged also by Chinese leaders' adherence to the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law,' she said.
'I am not just 'good-mouthing' Hong Kong. I also touched on the difficulties Hong Kong is facing and we have been able to manage, such as the bird flu. We also have measures to deal with the case of CA Pacific,' she said.
She expected that many nations would be watching the Budget very carefully.
