A development fund for sport and the arts is expected to generate HK$60 million to HK$75 million a year to spend on the arts.
The money will be split between smaller-scale projects and those requiring HK$2 million or more. The government says it has an open mind on how the money will be spent.
Critics question whether the funding has been properly thought through.
'I cannot see a strategic plan there,' art critic Oscar Ho Hing-kay said. 'With such a sudden and significant investment, we want to know how it can balance the ecology of the arts sector, and how such funding could consolidate the cultural environment.'
The money will come from the arts' share of an estimated four to five per cent investment return on HK$3 billion in seed money the government is pumping into the Arts and Sports Development Fund.
The return on the HK$3 billion - announced in the budget - will be shared equally between the arts and sports sectors. That should mean each will get HK$60 million to HK$75 million if the estimate is correct.