https://www.scmp.com/rss/318017/feed Finance Secretary John Tsang unveils his keenly-awaited budget for 2015, with a raft of sweeteners expected to put cash into Hongkongers' pockets in an effort to boost consumption. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The marathon budget debate finally came to a close yesterday, clearing the way for a vote on the 2017 political reform package and ending a filibuster that saw government funding to some public bodies suspended. The bill was passed by a vote of 37 to 14, with no abstention. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said he was pleased to end six weeks of talks and expected funding for government departments to resume by the middle of next month. "Over the past three years, there has been a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1811746/hong-kongs-marathon-budget-bill-crosses-line-after-six-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1811746/hong-kongs-marathon-budget-bill-crosses-line-after-six-week?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 May 2015 22:49:47 +0000 Hong Kong’s economy would have its share of “rainy days” over the next financial year, the city’s finance chief said, after comments by the US Federal Reserve cooled expectations of an early hike in interest rates. Speaking today at an annual luncheon hosted by the business community on his eighth budget, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-Wah said it was unlikely Hong Kong would enjoy a “sunshine sprint to the year-end finish line”. “Rather, this year, like last year, will likely have it... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1742004/hong-kong-finance-chief-expects-rainy-days-ahead-after-fed-cools-talk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1742004/hong-kong-finance-chief-expects-rainy-days-ahead-after-fed-cools-talk?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2015 08:39:07 +0000 Legends of rags to riches live on for generations. Many entrepreneurs started their business without much experience, technology or capital. But their flexibility and market acumen have opened up new opportunities in different trades and markets. John Tsang Chun-wah, budget speech Having established how this town came to achieve its wealth, our financial secretary then loudly proclaimed that he did not think it could be done any longer and people would need his money to succeed in the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1737771/hong-kongs-industry-subsidies-suppress-rather-stimulate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1737771/hong-kongs-industry-subsidies-suppress-rather-stimulate?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2015 23:26:58 +0000 In handling this year's budget, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah succeeded in lowering and then surpassing all expectations by handing out "sweeteners" amounting to almost 60 per cent of the forecast surplus for the financial year 2014-15. Instant university polls show satisfaction levels for the budget to be the highest in recent years. Big questions remain unanswered, however, about the direction of Hong Kong's economy. As economist Professor Ho Lok-sang of Lingnan University pointed... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1736653/hong-kong-stuck-ruling-class-doers-and-followers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1736653/hong-kong-stuck-ruling-class-doers-and-followers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2015 13:00:15 +0000 Hong Kong will receive an estimated HK$45 billion of investment income this year - enough to cover 10 per cent of total government expenditure and the most since a record high in 2008, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah revealed yesterday. Speaking on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong show, Tsang said the figure proved that it was important to "save sensibly" and not fritter away the city's reserves. "Our fiscal reserve, about HK$820 billion now, is not just a piggy bank for rainy days," he said.... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1732538/investment-income-will-cover-10pc-governments-expenditure-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1732538/investment-income-will-cover-10pc-governments-expenditure-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2015 05:16:46 +0000 No apologies for returning to the budget, a microcosm of just how inadequate Hong Kong's top bureaucrats are in devising medium- and longer-term strategies, especially as it coincided with an advisory body's report on the Future Fund. Addressing the rising cost of an ageing society must go together with raising the rates of return on all government assets, be they the HK$1.5 trillion in reserves or the hundreds of billions in revenue-earning assets. Yet Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1730764/inept-government-ensures-hong-kong-gets-poor-return-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1730764/inept-government-ensures-hong-kong-gets-poor-return-its?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2015 13:00:15 +0000 Hong Kong parents instil in their children from an early age the virtues of home ownership. A flat, while providing a place to live, is also a sound investment, their logic goes. It is backed by decades of solid evidence of the property market handsomely outperforming stock prices. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah was therefore bound to come under fire when he cautioned about buying property. Tsang's message was common sense: if you cannot afford it, do not buy. Historically low interest... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1729605/sweet-dreams-home-ownership-can-turn-nightmare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1729605/sweet-dreams-home-ownership-can-turn-nightmare?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2015 18:22:58 +0000 What should we make of the government-proposed future fund? Well, it depends on whether you think we should invest for the future or save for the future. It makes all the difference. Say you opt for the latter, how much do you need to save? The task force mandated to examine this very question has just released its guesstimates. To counter an ageing population and a shrinking workforce, the fund's size will start at HK$220 billion, essentially money taken from the existing land fund from land... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1729588/invest-bright-future-all-hongkongers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1729588/invest-bright-future-all-hongkongers?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2015 18:22:58 +0000 Budgets are a bit like department store winter sales; they generate a modicum of excitement and proffer some bargains that you don’t quite believe in but seem to be attractive; then you take the goods home and wonder why you bought them in the first place. A whole week has elapsed since John Tsang Chun-wah delivered his budget and the good folks who give him the money he was so generous as to dish out are left wondering whether this was another case of the winter sales all over again. Tsang... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/1729118/budgets-do-little-business-or-poor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/1729118/budgets-do-little-business-or-poor?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2015 01:58:03 +0000 The "future fund" should be locked up as an investment for at least 10 years and withdrawn only when the fiscal reserves drop to a level equivalent to six months of gross government expenditure, according to details unveiled by government advisers. Even if the money was withdrawn, it should be used only for "absolutely essential" expenditure items, the working group on long-term fiscal planning said in its second report submitted to Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, which was released to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1728024/government-advisers-set-out-strict-criteria-hong-kong-future-fund?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1728024/government-advisers-set-out-strict-criteria-hong-kong-future-fund?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2015 15:15:15 +0000 Before tying the knot in 2013, Wong Man-lok had a plan to cut his spending to save enough to buy a small property within two years and start a family in a flat he owns. Just when that goal seemed within reach, two years into his marriage, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced on Friday a new round of mortgage-tightening measures, delaying his plan for at least four years. The couple have lived with Wong's parents since they got married. They've travelled overseas just once since their... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1727195/hong-kong-property-cooling-measures-cloud-dreams-young-homebuyers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1727195/hong-kong-property-cooling-measures-cloud-dreams-young-homebuyers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:15:00 +0000 The government should consider investing in unconventional and less-liquid assets as part of its strategy so its new future fund can enjoy better returns, fund managers have recommended. The fund, made up of the HK$220 billion land fund and a third of future government surpluses, is being set up to hedge against budget deficits. Government-appointed experts have warned that a structural deficit could emerge in a decade as the city's workforce shrinks. The fund managers' proposals came after... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1727192/hong-kong-fund-managers-urged-government-invest-new-future-fund?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1727192/hong-kong-fund-managers-urged-government-invest-new-future-fund?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2015 21:15:00 +0000 Among the numbers and spending programmes of many Hong Kong budgets over the past decade and a half has been mention of a need to broaden the government's revenue base, perhaps through a goods and services tax. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah predictably raised the matter again this year, tucking it into the last one-sixth of his speech. Making reference is seemingly obligatory, being prefaced in terms of future necessity, not urgency. Yet given our fast-ageing population and the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1727173/hong-kong-must-reconsider-broader-tax-base-fiscal-stability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1727173/hong-kong-must-reconsider-broader-tax-base-fiscal-stability?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2015 19:43:09 +0000 I fell asleep watching the Hollywood movie Chef on HBO. But then, that says nothing about its quality, as I am no middle-class film buff like John Tsang Chun-wah. Our finance chief was apparently so inspired by the movie that he wants to put food trucks on the busy roads of Hong Kong. More traffic jams, anyone? The film is about a down-and-out chef who rediscovers his passion for cooking by selling Cuban sandwiches from a truck. I found Tsang's inspiration funnier than most of the jokes in the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1727141/give-more-licences-food-hawkers-rather-allow-food-trucks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1727141/give-more-licences-food-hawkers-rather-allow-food-trucks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2015 19:43:09 +0000 Street food has an appeal to tourists and locals alike. It adds to the culinary varieties and forms an integral part of food culture in any society. Being the food capital of Asia, Hong Kong knows well how to satisfy the tastebuds of the most curious and adventurous. So when Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah suggested introducing food trucks to enhance our food scene and tourism appeal, it was greeted with a great deal of interest. That the proposal has aroused so heated a debate in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1726355/food-trucks-can-add-some-spice-hong-kong-food-scene?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1726355/food-trucks-can-add-some-spice-hong-kong-food-scene?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2015 22:41:28 +0000 Pity Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, who must be one of the most "jinxed" financial officials in the world. Since he took over the position in 2007, he has been chalking up a fiscal surplus, even when the economy faced the toughest conditions caused by a global financial meltdown. Every year, he has made the same embarrassing mistake of underestimating the surplus, and faced the same thankless task of figuring out how to dispose of the often embarrassingly large sum, only to be blamed... https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1724881/wealthy-hong-kong-governments-poverty-ideas-people?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1724881/wealthy-hong-kong-governments-poverty-ideas-people?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2015 16:00:45 +0000 As the ink dries on Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah's giveaway budget chock-a-block with sweeteners aimed at defusing political strife, people are weighing up what they are getting - or not getting. He had plenty to give away. For the eighth time, he underestimated the surplus, now set to hit HK$63.8 billion when the financial year ends on March 31, more than six times his estimated HK$9.1 billion. In the main, the budget benefits the middle class, the elderly and disabled. Measures... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1725305/peoples-verdict-hong-kongs-budget?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1725305/peoples-verdict-hong-kongs-budget?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2015 18:45:00 +0000 Homebuyers will need to come up with a higher down payment for properties under HK$7 million in a new round of mortgage-tightening measures announced yesterday by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority after prices in the city's residential market hit an all-time high. It is the seventh lot of measures introduced to cool the market since February 2013. HKMA chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam said the loan-to-value ratio for residential properties under HK$7 million would be capped at 60 per cent,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/1724867/new-property-cooling-measures-will-see-higher-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/1724867/new-property-cooling-measures-will-see-higher-down?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2015 04:06:29 +0000 Hong Kong manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta and the city's financial-services sector will find fresh opportunities if they heed the financial secretary's call to embrace Beijing's new export strategy, industry insiders say. John Tsang Chun-wah used his budget speech on Wednesday to flag the "one belt, one road" policy ahead of its launch in Beijing next month. The "belt" is the Silk Road economic belt, which will see improved transport links to China's neighbours in central Asia, while the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/1724816/beijings-new-silk-road-may-be-break-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/1724816/beijings-new-silk-road-may-be-break-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2015 03:15:45 +0000 Middle-income families stand to benefit most from the rise in child tax allowance and the rebate on salaries tax announced in the budget - while low-income families gain nothing at all. The extra help missed out the working poor as those families earning HK$20,000 a month or less fall outside the tax system, according to figures produced by accounting firm KPMG. Its calculations are based on married couples with one child and ignore Mandatory Provident Fund payments and other tax allowances.... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724510/middle-class-reap-tax-benefits-while-poor-miss-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724510/middle-class-reap-tax-benefits-while-poor-miss-out?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:45:15 +0000 Risks to Hong Kong's long-term economic prospects and competitiveness are ballooning and prompt measures are needed, experts have warned. While Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah showered a HK$34.2 billion package of handouts on the poor, the middle class and small businesses, he said little in the budget to tackle a potential structural deficit within the next decade, academics said. Tsang floated proposals such as exploring the feasibility of broadening the tax base through a general... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724506/financial-secretary-john-tsang-must-focus-long-term-challenges-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724506/financial-secretary-john-tsang-must-focus-long-term-challenges-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:45:15 +0000 The government's more generous than expected budget sweeteners have cheered the middle class, the poor, small businesses and even property developers. Announcing handouts worth HK$34.2 billion, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said he was aiming to alleviate "the financial burden on the public", in a bid to heal a society scarred by political conflict. This year's budget focused its attention on the middle class - which was largely ignored last year - in addition to the poor and small and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724511/john-tsangs-budget-giveaways-fuelled-governments-huge-surplus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724511/john-tsangs-budget-giveaways-fuelled-governments-huge-surplus?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:45:15 +0000 Faced with widening income disparities and fast ageing populations, the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore this week adopted two different approaches to solve the problems as they revealed their fiscal plans for the coming year. With a larger than expected surplus at its disposal, the Hong Kong government rolled out a sweetener-packed budget but has been criticised by some commentators for failing to tackle the problems with a long-term vision as demonstrated in Singapore's budget. In an... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724509/budget-tale-how-two-cities-address-their-problems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724509/budget-tale-how-two-cities-address-their-problems?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:43:19 +0000 View the budget calculator here The budget calculator was coded by Code4HK. The South China Morning Post provided translations and minor code changes. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723973/scmp-budget-calculator-work-out-how-hong-kong-budget-affects-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723973/scmp-budget-calculator-work-out-how-hong-kong-budget-affects-you?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:15:30 +0000 Hong Kong should promote itself more in India and Southeast Asia, a tourism veteran suggested, as the city's financial chief pledged HK$80 million for tourism promotions after the Occupy protests and disappointing Lunar New Year visitor numbers. The Hong Kong Tourism Board will get the multimillion cash injection for this year-16 so it can step up promotion efforts and restore tourists’ confidence in Hong Kong, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said in his budget speech yesterday. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723803/hong-kong-urged-draw-visitors-india-southeast-asia-after-hk80m?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723803/hong-kong-urged-draw-visitors-india-southeast-asia-after-hk80m?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 06:15:30 +0000 Pan-democrat lawmakers today urged Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah to dip into the city’s HK$63.8 billion budget surplus to invest in the future. While HK$34 billion of relief measures announced by the finance chief yesterday won some praise during a Legislative Council finance committee hearing, Democratic Party lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing said Tsang should use the huge budget surplus to help students pay for tuition. “These big sums of [surpluses and reserves] are Hongkongers’ money.... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723802/invest-hk64-billion-budget-surplus-youth-pan-democrats-urge-tsang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723802/invest-hk64-billion-budget-surplus-youth-pan-democrats-urge-tsang?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 06:15:00 +0000 Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah’s plan to introduce food trucks to Hong Kong was unappetising, hawkers said, after the idea was wheeled out in the budget speech yesterday. Tsang said that he had “asked relevant departments ... to consider introducing food trucks, which are popular abroad, to the mix of Hong Kong’s existing food scene”, seeing it as a good attraction for tourists too. But itinerant hawkers like fruit seller Chan Kai-tai said the idea would hit a roadblock. “Hong Kong’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723734/hong-kong-hawkers-find-finance-chiefs-food-truck-plan-unappetising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723734/hong-kong-hawkers-find-finance-chiefs-food-truck-plan-unappetising?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 03:47:20 +0000 Health and social welfare get some of the biggest increases in spending this year under the budget plans, with education and the environment also benefiting in the government’s push to make Hong Kong “a better place with a brighter future for everyone”. Even after the increases the government is predicting a surplus of some HK$37 billion for 2015-2016. Click to view the full-size infographic in high resolution. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723614/infographic-where-money-goes-hong-kongs-budget-2015?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723614/infographic-where-money-goes-hong-kongs-budget-2015?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 01:30:15 +0000 As the first Hong Kong-born American to be recruited into Hong Kong’s civil service, John Tsang exuded an aura of unflashy confidence, pausing in mid speech as he reached for his glass of water during the now-sacred Legislative Council tradition – the unceremonial ejection of opposition politician Long Hair (whose silvering hair is actually now beautifully coiffured). His budget was competent in parts – often striving to do the best for Hong Kong, yet spoilt by gimmicky giveaways driven by lobby... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1723607/john-tsangs-problem-plenty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1723607/john-tsangs-problem-plenty?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2015 01:11:23 +0000 View the interactive here https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723511/interactive-visualisation-hong-kong-budget?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723511/interactive-visualisation-hong-kong-budget?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 22:00:45 +0000 Hong Kong is to set up a savings fund for a rainy day, the finance secretary announced yesterday - despite the fact the city's massive fiscal reserves are predicted to reach HK$950 billion in five years. John Tsang Chun-wah also revived the possibility of broadening the tax base in his budget speech yesterday when he raised the prospect of introducing a goods and services tax. A similar proposal made by Tsang's predecessor Henry Tang Ying-yen in 2006 was shelved after a public outcry. Tsang said... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723410/hk950b-reserves-not-enough-hong-kong-launches-rainy-day-fund?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723410/hk950b-reserves-not-enough-hong-kong-launches-rainy-day-fund?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:30:30 +0000 Older people who have bought a subsidised flat but have not yet finished paying for it are to be offered loans to buy their homes outright in a bid to boost the housing supply, under a proposal announced by Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah in yesterday's budget speech. The loan and probably the interest on it too would not have to be paid until the flat is sold or the owner dies, said the government-owned Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation, which is set to provide the loans. Subsidised flats... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723418/hong-kong-budget-loan-plan-escape-housing-trap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723418/hong-kong-budget-loan-plan-escape-housing-trap?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:30:15 +0000 With two children and a mortgage to pay off, Matchy Choi Shun-yin and his wife Teresa are one of the many middle-class families in the city that should benefit from the range of sweeteners in the budget. Child allowances and rebates are among some HK$34 billion in one-off relief measures announced by Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah yesterday, with the aim of "alleviating the financial burden on the public". At least 1.8 million taxpayers will pay 75 per cent less on salaries tax - this... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723416/hong-kong-budget-sweeteners-help-lift-some-familys-cash-burden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723416/hong-kong-budget-sweeteners-help-lift-some-familys-cash-burden?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:30:15 +0000 After coffee and French movies, John Tsang Chun-wah has now moved on to his next bourgeois preference: food trucks. If the financial secretary has his way, food vans - like those featured in last year's Hollywood foodie movie Chef - may be cruising the streets of Hong Kong. In the movie, the main character rediscovers his love for food while selling Cuban sandwiches and yucca fries from the open window of a food van travelling across the US. In Hong Kong, vans would more likely be touting fish... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723426/john-tsang-lets-introduce-food-trucks-hong-kongs-streets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723426/john-tsang-lets-introduce-food-trucks-hong-kongs-streets?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:30:15 +0000 Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-Wah yesterday announced a revised budget surplus of HK$63.8 billion for the 2014-15 financial year, compared with the original estimate of HK$9.1 billion. The enormous surplus was primarily attributable to the record-high stamp duty collected as a result of extra levies to rein in property prices, the buoyant property and stock markets and increased revenue from profits and salaries taxes. The surplus would have reached the even more staggering level of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723413/prudent-budget-we-need-plan-long-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723413/prudent-budget-we-need-plan-long-term?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:28:21 +0000 The future of the 173-year-old Hongkong Post has been called into question in John Tsang Chun-wah's latest budget. "We shall review the business operation of Hongkong Post with the objectives of enabling the [post office] to further support the development of the logistics industry in Hong Kong and expand its service offerings in response to market needs," the financial secretary said yesterday, as he highlighted how modern communications could pose a challenge to the future of the traditional... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723417/future-struggling-hongkong-post-air-after-budget?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723417/future-struggling-hongkong-post-air-after-budget?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:28:21 +0000 The city's economy faces a "challenging" year ahead amid global economic uncertainty, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah warned as he unleashed a host of measures intended to electrify economic growth. The city's economy will grow this year by between 1 and 3 per cent, Tsang said in his budget speech yesterday, meaning it may lag behind the 2.3 per cent growth recorded last year - the third year in a row the city fell below its average growth rate for the past decade, 3.9 per cent. "Our... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723419/global-uncertainty-weigh-hong-kongs-economy-finance-chief-says-budget?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723419/global-uncertainty-weigh-hong-kongs-economy-finance-chief-says-budget?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:28:21 +0000 Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah yesterday continued his unbroken streak of being wrong, revealing for the eighth year in a row that he had inaccurately predicted the city's budget. As Tsang unveiled his new budget yesterday, he said the city would see a surplus of HK$63.8 billion for the financial year ending on March 31 - six times higher than his original projection of HK$9.1 billion. The financial chief also predicted that the government in the next financial year would have a surplus... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723421/hong-kongs-budget-surplus-underestimated-eighth-year-row?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723421/hong-kongs-budget-surplus-underestimated-eighth-year-row?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:28:21 +0000 The package of relief measures aimed at helping the poor may have increased by almost 80 per cent from last year to HK$6.6 billion - but not a cent is going to mother-of-two Chen Yiping. Her family of four living in a subdivided flat will not benefit from the two extra months' worth of allowances for recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), or funds supporting the elderly and disabled, because her husband takes home a meagre salary. Meanwhile, the tax rebates do not apply... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723411/family-misses-out-budget-allowances-because-husbands-meagre-salary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723411/family-misses-out-budget-allowances-because-husbands-meagre-salary?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:28:21 +0000 A series of one-off measures to help businesses affected by the Occupy Central protests were unveiled in the budget yesterday, as well as fresh plans aimed at lifting the city's image. The initiatives, totalling some HK$290 million, will also benefit businesses that operate outside the three core protest zones in Mong Kok, Admiralty and Causeway Bay. Industry insiders welcomed the news, although they said the short-term measures could not help them recoup losses suffered during the protests. In... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723414/hk290m-help-offset-occupy-protest-losses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723414/hk290m-help-offset-occupy-protest-losses?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:28:21 +0000 Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah's latest budget announcement gained him not only rare praise from pan-democrats but buzz that he might be a dark horse candidate in the 2017 chief executive race. Tsang picked up points with the young pro-democracy crowd following the months-long Occupy sit-ins by addressing them specifically in a paragraph in his annual budget speech. He said Hongkongers' demands went beyond material goods. "The people of this city, our younger generations in particular,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723415/hong-kong-budget-speech-gains-john-tsang-political-traction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723415/hong-kong-budget-speech-gains-john-tsang-political-traction?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:28:21 +0000 John Tsang Chun-wah has rightly delivered what Hong Kong needs in the wake of the Occupy protests - a budget to help the healing process. Apart from instilling some feel-good sentiments with enhanced sweeteners for the middle class and poor, the finance chief also announced relief measures to help trades affected by the protests, injected funding to reinforce the city's economic strengths and even added billions to our fiscal reserves for a rainy day. Given that a government budget is as much... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1723350/time-hong-kong-finance-chief-has-has-done-better-his-budget?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1723350/time-hong-kong-finance-chief-has-has-done-better-his-budget?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:45:30 +0000 Did the Occupy protests harm Hong Kong's international image? In official circles, that is taken as an established fact. So John Tsang Chun-wah waxed indignant about the protest movement at the start of his budget speech yesterday. Incoherently, he said Hong Kong was an open society that encouraged diversity of opinions, yet complained about how prolonged political bickering had been "detrimental to public administration and the international image of Hong Kong as a stable, law-abiding and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1723387/hong-kong-finance-chiefs-comments-occupy-protests-go-too-far?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1723387/hong-kong-finance-chiefs-comments-occupy-protests-go-too-far?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:45:30 +0000 The city's budget for the next fiscal year includes a HK$34 billion economic relief package, in an attempt by the government to heal a society disrupted by political squabbles and challenged by a fast-ageing population. The sweeteners Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah announced in yesterday's speech were more generous than expected, benefiting both the middle class and lower earners. The relief package's total value is a 60 per cent increase from last year. The divisions ... aroused... https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1723434/financial-secretary-john-tsang-unveils-hk34b-package-sweeteners-including-tax?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1723434/financial-secretary-john-tsang-unveils-hk34b-package-sweeteners-including-tax?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:45:15 +0000 The police force is set to see its manpower boosted by 841 in the coming financial year in addition to new equipment that includes three “crowd management vehicles” at a cost of HK$27 million. The plans revealed in Wednesday’s budget immediately sparked concerns over the increased use of police resources to suppress civil protests. It also triggered fresh debate over the police’s handling of last year’s Occupy protests. The expansion will see the police force’s total staff – disciplined and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723290/concerns-over-manpower-boost-police-force-wake-occupy-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723290/concerns-over-manpower-boost-police-force-wake-occupy-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 13:16:34 +0000 A bounty of one-off goodies, greater financial commitment to the needs of an ageing population and measures to improve social stability, after a year of protracted “political bickering” – that in a nutshell was the budget that Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah announced on Wednesday. Some measures were expected, others a surprise. As with every budget, there was also disappointment in some quarters. Here’s our quick take on this year’s budget:   7 (WELL, 8) HITS   1. Loans for homes The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723208/7-hits-7-misses-and-7-ways-hong-kongs-budget-could-affect-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723208/7-hits-7-misses-and-7-ways-hong-kongs-budget-could-affect-you?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:30:30 +0000 Ruby Yeung Shiu-shan, around 50, works for a social enterprise “Hong Kong’s budget still lacks long term planning. For the past 10 years, I’ve been hoping for the government to support local creative industries. “South Korea is trying very hard to develop local talent and Japan has also put a lot of resources into research and development. Now compare that with Hong Kong – it’s always about the finance and property sectors. Light industry has practically vanished here.” “This year’s budget... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723204/budget-2015-voxpop-what-do-people-think-about-john-tsangs-speech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723204/budget-2015-voxpop-what-do-people-think-about-john-tsangs-speech?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:06:27 +0000 The controversial goods and services tax reappeared in this year’s budget, with the finance chief saying the city “may explore the feasibility” of the levy that his predecessor reluctantly shelved almost a decade ago. Now, as then, major parties across the political spectrum showed no hesitation in questioning the idea. It is the first time Finance Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has ever explicitly mentioned GST in his eight budget speeches to date, but government sources downplayed the move,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723129/budget-2015-decade-controversial-goods-and-services-tax-rears-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723129/budget-2015-decade-controversial-goods-and-services-tax-rears-its?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 06:40:14 +0000 A savings scheme under the proposed “future fund” could finally be rolled out this year, as the government and the Monetary Authority continue to work out the details two years after it was first announced in the budget. “The future fund will serve as long-term savings and be placed in long-term investments for higher returns,” Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said as he delivered his latest budget speech in the Legislative Council today. The idea of establishing the fund was floated in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723102/budget-2015-future-fund-provide-long-term-savings-ageing-hongkongers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723102/budget-2015-future-fund-provide-long-term-savings-ageing-hongkongers?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 05:44:17 +0000 The government will inject HK$1.5 billion into the export marketing and development funds for small and medium-sized enterprises this year, as Hong Kong will “need to rely on domestic demand for maintaining economic vibrancy and preserving employment”, the financial chief said this morning. Addressing the Legislative Council, John Tsang Chun-wah also said that external trade could “hardly drive” the city’s economic growth amid a host of uncertainties in the global market and unveiled measures... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723101/budget-2015-cash-injection-will-seek-diversify-hong-kongs-economy-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1723101/budget-2015-cash-injection-will-seek-diversify-hong-kongs-economy-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2015 05:43:48 +0000