Will Paul Chan dish out the sweeteners now or think long-term in Hong Kong budget?

As Chan gets set to deliver budget on Wednesday, many will be drawing comparisons with his predecessor John Tsang Chun-wah and how he can resist pressures to share out a huge cash surplus, while focusing on long-term investments for the city

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Hongkongers will find out details of Paul Chan’s budget on Wednesday. Photo: David Wong

Published: 7:01pm, 27 Feb 2018Updated: 10:19pm, 27 Feb 2018

If his predecessor was relaxed and casual in demeanour, Paul Chan Mo-po is the polar opposite. Methodical, quiet and someone known for choosing his words as if they were numbers he was adding and subtracting in his head, Chan is no John Tsang Chun-wah.

As all eyes train on him on Wednesday, comparisons are again being drawn. How generous will he be in dispensing cash handouts and goodies in a year that Hong Kong will harvest a bumper surplus? Will he hoard it like Tsang? Will he do as his boss orders or offer his own vision of being the steward of Hong Kong’s fiscal strategy?

Inevitably, the comparison was also being drawn to how Chan – like Tsang – was not his boss’s preferred choice for the post of financial secretary.

It is against this difficult backdrop that Chan finds himself today as he prepares his first budget under his new superior Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who took office last July.

Chan rolled out his maiden budget in February last year, a month after taking over from Tsang who resigned to contest for the chief executive post – an election he eventually lost.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po. Photo: Nora Tam

Chan finds himself battling not just the comparisons, but how to resist the pressure for him to share the bounty through cash handouts while keeping his eye focused on longer-term investments vital for the city’s future. He must also stay keenly alert to economic changes in mainland China so the city can keep step with the bigger driver next door and remain financially stable.