The ICAC said yesterday its appeal to the government to spare it from the 1.8 per cent budget cut did not mean it objected to the plan to slash public spending.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption issued the statement after newly appointed Deputy Commissioner Daniel Li Ming-chak said on Friday the agency had difficulties making the cut and feared the move would affect the quality of its investigations.
Mr Li said he would raise the concerns with the Financial Secretary, Antony Leung Kam-chung.
A senior official was quoted in a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday as saying the ICAC's 'high profile' reaction reflected that Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's administration was 'losing control' because such problems would not have taken place under colonial rule.
In response to the comments, an ICAC spokesman said yesterday 'the commission fully understood the difficulties facing the government and would do its best to achieve savings in support of the plan to cut public spending'.
The spokesman said the ICAC would make every effort to ensure it could maintain the effectiveness of its anti-corruption work.