Deficit projected for Hong Kong’s arts hub narrows from previous forecast, amid hope of easing financial woes through building office zone
- West Kowloon Cultural District Authority says its unaudited operating deficit before depreciation and interest expenses will be HK$491 million for 2020-21, just half of what had been forecast last year
- The arts hub attributes the reduction to a big cut in operating expenditure amid the Covid-19 pandemic and other containment efforts, as well as better-than-expected operating income
A massive deficit projected for the multibillion-dollar arts hub in Hong Kong has significantly narrowed from last year’s forecast, with observers hoping its coming tender for an office development project would help ease financial woes.
In a Legislative Council document submitted to lawmakers on Wednesday, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority estimated its unaudited operating deficit before depreciation and interest expenses would be HK$491 million (US$63 million) for the financial year 2020-21, just half of what had been expected last year.
The authority attributed the reduction to a big cut in operating expenditure – stemming from the forced closure of arts and cultural facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic and other containment efforts – as well as better-than-expected operating income.
Still, it is expected to run deep in the red in the next three years, with only HK$7.9 billion left out of the HK$21.6 billion government upfront endowment at the end of the 2020-21 financial year.
The 40-hectare West Kowloon Cultural District was created to make the city a leading cultural destination. So far, its Arts Pavilion, Xiqu Centre, Freespace, Art Park and Temporary Nursery Park are up and running. M+, the West Kowloon museum of visual culture, is expected to open at the end of this year, followed by the Hong Kong Palace Museum in 2022.