Editorial | Hong Kong public has to be given hope as budget takes step in right direction
Unpopular decisions have had to be made as city faces huge deficit, but it can bounce back thanks to ‘one country, two systems’
Defending the government budget has always been part of the job of the financial secretary. Paul Chan Mo-po is stepping up on this front amid doubts and criticisms over his much debated but necessary measures to bail Hong Kong out of a fiscal quagmire aggravated by financial imbalance and intensifying geopolitics.
No less important are reassurances for the local and international communities that the blueprint has put the city on the right track for a brighter future.
The Post’s Redefining Hong Kong Series 2025: Budget Edition was a timely occasion for Chan to provide a helicopter view of where we stand in terms of public finance and strategic development.
While the raft of spending cuts and revenue proposals mapped out by Chan to help balance the books will add to the pain, a brighter future awaits by accelerating the Northern Metropolis project and investment in artificial intelligence, the forum heard.
Understandably of concern is the ambitious plan to finance development projects via the issuance of bonds. But Chan said the narrative about Hong Kong could be “wrongly based” in the current geopolitical climate.
This came in response to a warning by Fitch Ratings that a slower pace of consolidation, combined with the continuing erosion of fiscal reserve buffers, could gradually raise risks to the city’s credit profile and expose the economy to more shocks.