Hong Kong’s Paul Chan vows livelihood focus amid strict spending controls
Expert calls for measures in budget to lure firms that want to ‘make a fortune’, as finance minister eyes ways to ‘moderately’ boost revenue
Hong Kong will follow a strategy of “fiscal consolidation”, with the government strictly controlling public spending to address the deficit even as it seeks to improve services related to residents’ livelihoods, the finance chief has said.
“In response to the financial deficit caused by multiple external and internal challenges over the past few years, the budget will introduce a strengthened fiscal consolidation strategy,” he wrote in his weekly blog.
“While maintaining and improving public services, the government will strictly control public expenditure. At the same time, efforts will be made to moderately increase revenue, while considering Hong Kong’s competitiveness and the user-pays principle.”
He revealed earlier that the 2024-25 deficit would be about HK$100 billion (US$12.9 billion), more than double what he expected at the beginning of 2024, which would make it the third consecutive year a deficit of such magnitude had been recorded.
Chan said on Sunday that the administration would flexibly use public resources and market forces to accelerate development and invest in the future.