Sir Hamish is expected to announce heavy spending on infrastructure and some modest ''giveaways'' in the next fiscal year following a 1993-94 Budget surplus estimated at about $15 billion.

Short selling - where investors can sell stock they do not own with the aim of buying later at a lower price - was introduced in January but its development has been severely stunted under the existing Ordinance.

Investors have to loan stock to cover their short positions but stamp duty on the loaned stock is only waived for two weeks. The new ordinance will extend that period to one year.

Billions of dollars worth of transactions have been carried out offshore by Hong Kong companies in a bid to get around the stamp duty.

The stock exchange has been lobbying hard for the change in a bid to claw back much of the estimated $10 billion to $13 billion worth of short selling now booked through offshore trades.

The financial community is expecting little in the way of sweeping policy changes from the Financial Secretary despite a windfall boost to Government coffers from the share market and property sales.

Growth in spending will be kept in line with the expansion of the economy, likely to be about 5.5 per cent in 1994-95, with key infrastructure projects first in line for Government funds.

Airport-related developments will soak up the bulk of the capital investment but substantial funds are expected to be earmarked for new roads, sewerage and pollution control projects.

One key area in which Sir Hamish is being urged to act is in the property market, where spiralling prices are squeezing out genuine buyers and generating fears of a bubble that will eventually burst.

Sir Hamish should announce a Budget surplus of between $8 billion and $15 billion - after his initial forecast of a $3.4 billion deficit - according to senior tax partners for international accountancy firms in the territory.

The surplus is a combination of rising revenue from corporate profits tax, duties from the booming share and property markets and underspending by the Government, according to Marshall Byres, tax chairman of accountants Ernst and Young.

Underspending on capital projects because of bottlenecks and a lack of resources was pinpointed as a major source of frustration by Sir Hamish in last year's Budget.

Record turnover on the stock exchange has boosted Government coffers by about $5 billion, swelling total Government revenue by about three per cent.

Business is looking for a cut in the stamp duty although the Financial Secretary has made it known to the industry that he sees a radical reduction or even abolition of the charge as being dependent on the stock exchange modernising its commission structure.

The exchange, which has an ongoing dialogue with Sir Hamish on the subject, would like to see the charge abolished and expects to see a further reduction this year.