Updated at 7.04pm: The next budget would have few surprises nor would there be much room for tax concessions, the new financial chief said on Wednesday.
''I am still considering a lot of suggestions but I will let you guess at the moment on what proposals I would put forward,'' Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung said on his first working day.
Asked whether he would drop the option to introduce sales tax, Mr Leung said it was only a rumour and he would try to listen to views of all sectors before making a decision.
Though Hong Kong sat on a huge $400 billion-plus reserve, Mr Leung hoped to better utilise it in investment rather than actually spending it.
He said his fiscal philosophy was to decide how the taxpayers' money should be spent with good returns.
The senior official also hoped the public would not have an impression that the Government would give preferential treatment to any particular interest group just because he came from the business sector. He is formerly the Asia-Pacific chairman of the JP Morgan Chase.
