Hong Kong’s Paul Chan should have been ‘bolder’ in his budget, economists say
‘There are some cost-cutting measures, but they are only piecemeal and definitely not a game-changer,’ Gary Ng says
Hong Kong’s finance chief should have been bolder in rolling out “groundbreaking” measures to cut spending on underperforming civil servants to plug the deficit, economists have said, as they poured cold water over the city’s capability to balance the books in two years amid rising global uncertainties.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, earlier met Chan and seven other ministers to hear their plans on rebooting the city’s sluggish economy and development just two weeks before the unveiling of the financial blueprint.
Beijing’s point man on city affairs called on the senior officials to abide by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s directions issued during the third plenum of the Communist Party – “to be bold in reform, dare to break new ground and innovate continuously”.
Asked on Saturday whether he had achieved the reforms sought by Beijing, Chan reiterated their importance but also said it was crucial to minimise the impact on society.
“You can see if we have introduced new measures in developing new areas such as innovation and technology,” he said. “But we should also try to minimise the impact on society amid the transformation.”