HK's 9-month deficit hits 9.1 bln dlrs at end-december
( 2004-02-01 16:37) (Xinhua)
Hong Kong government deficit
stood at 71 billion HK dollars (9.1 billion US dollars) for the first nine
months of this financial year, less than that of expectation, according to the
government announcement.
A spokesman said Saturday that expenditure for the period Aprilto December
2003 amounted to 182 billion HK dollars (23.3 billion US dollars) while revenue
came to 111 billion HK dollars (14.2 billion US dollars), resulting the current
deficit.
Li Wenhui, local finance expert was quoted by Sunday's OrientalDaily as
saying that the fiscal deficit may hit 60 billion HK dollars (7.7 billion US
dollars) to 65 billion HK dollars (8.3 billion US dollars), less than that
formerly expected by the financial secretary Henry Tang.
Tang said in October that the deficit of this financial year may amount to
780 billion HK dollars. He said the government has set a target to solve its
deficit problem by 2008-09.
Li Wenhui said that Hong Kong's economy has shown signs of rebound and the
government revenue income is expected to increase in the coming two months. The
deficit condition therefore may be improved.
The fiscal reserve stood at 244.5 billion HK dollars (31.35 billion US
dollars) on Dec. 31, 2003.
Henry Tang will give an up-to-date assessment of the expected deficit for the
entire financial year in his budget speech on March 10.
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