China News Service, Hong Kong, February 28 (Reporter Han Xingtong) The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Paul Chan Mo-po, announced in a new fiscal budget on the 28th that the expected comprehensive deficit in 2023/2024 is 101.6 billion yuan (HKD, the same below) ), fiscal reserves have dropped to about 733.2 billion yuan now.

　　Chan Mo-po said that during the epidemic, the SAR government launched multiple rounds of large-scale counter-cyclical and anti-epidemic measures, and expenditures soared.

After the epidemic, the SAR government has tried its best to reduce expenditures, but the total expenditure for this fiscal year still reached NT$727.9 billion, an increase of 36.9% over 2018/2019. Among them, operating expenses increased significantly by 40.2% during the same period, and operating income only increased compared to the same period. 13.1%.

　　Expenditure on capital projects has also increased from an average of about NT$76 billion per year in the past five years to about NT$85 billion in 2023/2024. Paul Chan said that this is mainly because the SAR government has vigorously promoted land and housing projects and other infrastructure to improve the environment and people's livelihood in recent years. project.

　　Chen Maobo said that the comprehensive deficit in 2023/2024 is expected to be 101.6 billion yuan, and the fiscal reserves are expected to be 733.2 billion yuan at the end of March this year.

He predicts that the comprehensive deficit in 2024/2025 will be 48.1 billion yuan, and the fiscal reserves are expected to be 685.1 billion yuan at the end of March 2025. At the same time, he predicts that from 2025/2026 to 2028/2029, a comprehensive surplus will be achieved, and the fiscal reserves will be in 2029 It is expected to be 832.2 billion yuan at the end of March.

　　Chan Mo-po said that the SAR government will adhere to the principle of living within its means, strive to balance revenue and expenditure, and avoid deficits to ensure the resilience and sustainability of public finances.

　　He revealed that the SAR government is implementing a comprehensive fiscal consolidation plan.

Taking into account that the economic recovery needs to be strengthened and the burden on enterprises and citizens is high, the plan focuses on reducing expenditures, but also increases some revenue in a pragmatic manner, striving to restore balance to the SAR government's balance of payments within a few years.

　　Chan Mo-po said that the SAR government will start from the root cause and strengthen control over the growth rate of expenditure by reorganizing processes or reprioritizing work.

He also emphasized that the SAR government will still take care of the needs of the public and continue to invest resources in providing and improving public services.

　　On the same day, Chan Mo-po also announced a number of "open source" measures to increase public fiscal revenue, including the proposal to implement a two-tiered standard tax rate system for salaries tax and personal income tax from the 2024/2025 tax year, which would increase the SAR government's revenue by approximately 910 million per year. yuan; the SAR Government will propose legislative amendments to the progressive rates system for residential properties in the first half of this year.

He also suggested resuming the collection of hotel room rent tax at a rate of 3%, which is expected to increase the SAR government's revenue by approximately 1.1 billion yuan per year.

To give the hotel and tourism industry more time to prepare, the implementation date will be January 1, 2025.

　　Chen Maobo emphasized that the key to the growth of public fiscal revenue lies in sustained and high-quality economic development.

Only by making the "cake" bigger and making the economy grow faster, more resilient, and more diversified can we generate more income to support social construction and people's livelihood needs.

(over)