If the SAR government could solve its admittedly alarming budget deficit problem by simply raising salaries taxes by one per cent and picking up '$26 billion' in the process, I am sure it would have done so ('Taxes must be raised to defeat deficit says UBS Warburg economist' South China Morning Post, November 8). Indeed, the financial secretary would no doubt regard such an outcome as a miracle given that this year his total salaries tax take (at a top rate of 15 per cent) was expected to be only $30.5 billion. IAN K PERKIN Chief Economist The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
