HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s deficit for this fiscal 12 months is anticipated to be slightly below HK$100 billion ($13 billion), the town’s finance leader stated on Saturday.
The federal government is “focussing on cost-saving measures” to take on the deficit, Paul Chan advised citizens on a programme on public broadcaster RTHK the place he was once collecting public comments forward of the approaching price range.
“Even if we wish to transfer ahead with public works tasks… we need to prioritise traits in keeping with their urgency,” he stated.
The expansion price of financial system within the first 3 quarters of 2024 was once no longer as robust as anticipated because of top rates of interest and exterior demanding situations, Chan stated.
Hong Kong’s financial system is anticipated to develop 2.5% in 2024, he wrote in a weblog publish in December. That adopted a 1.8% 3rd quarter enlargement price, which fell under expectancies.
The estimated deficit for the 12 months finishing in March is ready double the former forecast of HK$48.1 billion within the price range offered in February.
Chan attributed the deficit principally to a pointy decline in land gross sales earnings. Boosting the financial system amid a fiscal deficit could be Hong Kong’s “greatest problem”, he stated.
($1 = 7.7779 Hong Kong greenbacks)
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