China News Service, Hong Kong, February 28 (Reporter Liu Dawei) Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po of the Hong Kong SAR government announced on the 28th that the SAR government will issue 120 billion yuan in bonds (Hong Kong dollars, the same below) in the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
On February 28, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Paul Chan Mo-po, announced the new year’s budget at the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Photo by China News Service reporter Chen Yongnuo
Paul Chan Mo-po delivered the 2024-2025 fiscal budget at the Legislative Council of the SAR on the same day and made the above remarks when talking about the situation related to the bond market.
Chen Maobo said that of the 120 billion yuan in bonds, 70 billion yuan is the retail part, including 50 billion yuan in "silver bonds" (referring to bonds that residents over 65 years old can buy), and 20 billion yuan in green bonds and infrastructure bonds. In addition to promoting Inclusive finance also enhances citizens’ “sense of participation” in infrastructure and sustainable development projects.
Chan Mo-po pointed out that Hong Kong has always been in a leading position in Asia in bond issuance, and the issuance of international bonds has ranked first in Asia for seven consecutive years.
Last year’s budget proposed expanding the scope of the “Government Green Bond Program” to include sustainable finance projects and establishing an “Infrastructure Bond Program” to finance infrastructure projects so that projects that benefit the economy and people’s livelihood can be completed as soon as possible.
The SAR government will cap the total borrowing of these two projects at NT$500 billion to increase the flexibility of quota allocation, and the proceeds will be allocated to the Capital Works Reserve Fund to invest in projects that are beneficial to long-term development.
These two programs will gradually replace the current "Government Bond Program".
Chen Moobo also mentioned that the "Large Development Project Financing Committee" headed by him has examined how to promote the development of the northern metropolitan area in an orderly and phased manner.
The SAR government plans to issue approximately NT$95 billion to NT$135 billion in bonds each year over the next five years to promote the northern metropolitan area and other infrastructure projects.
As for the Kau Yi Chau artificial island project, the SAR government will continue to promote various related studies, and the specific advancement time will take into account factors including the public financial situation.
Chan Mo-po stressed that the funds raised from the bond issuance will not be used to pay for the SAR government’s regular expenses.
The SAR government will continue to strictly abide by fiscal discipline and maintain borrowing at a healthy level. It is expected that the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product will range from about 9% to about 13% from 2024/2025 to 2028/2029.
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