Opinion | Paul Chan must deliver the fiscal discipline Hong Kong needs

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered his latest budget on February 25. Over the past decade, under his stewardship, Hong Kong has weathered multiple economic shocks and recently returned to a respectable growth rate of 3.5 per cent. Yet the tasks ahead are formidable: addressing a structural fiscal deficit in the city’s capital account while ensuring sufficient resources for future growth, all against an increasingly volatile and dangerous global backdrop.

Article 107 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law requires the government to “follow the principle of keeping the expenditure within the limits of revenues in drawing up its budget, and strive to achieve a fiscal balance”.

Chan, however, was not the architect of significant expansions in recurrent public spending. Since the 2010s, successive chief executives have ratcheted up expenditure on services for the elderly as legislators cried out for help for the growing population of seniors. A prominent example is the public transport fare concession scheme for the elderly and other eligible persons, introduced in June 2012. Its cost has surged from an estimated HK$255 million (US$32.5 million) in 2012–13 to around HK$5.5 billion in 2026–27.

Fiscal pressures were intensified by the package of initiatives for underprivileged groups announced in January 2020 by then chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. Measures such as more generous old-age allowances and lowering the qualifying age for transport concessions to 60 are estimated to have added at least HK$100 billion annually to public expenditure, increasing the government’s long-term fiscal burden.

In Hong Kong, as elsewhere, once “sweeteners” are introduced, they are difficult to take away. Chan has been criticised for not offering more handouts in this year’s budget. Yet, viewed through the lens of Article 107, resisting renewed calls for expanded benefits was the more responsible course.

It is also worth noting that the Basic Law does not stipulate that fiscal balance must be achieved solely through operating revenue. Last year, the government recorded a deficit of about HK$100 billion due to a shortfall in revenue. However, when other funding sources are taken into account – including bond issuance, a HK$37 billion accumulated surplus from the Bond Fund and HK$62 billion in clawbacks from six seed capital funds – the consolidated position shows a modest surplus of HK$2.9 billion.

04:25

Record surplus prompts Hong Kong government to offer tax relief, sweeteners

Source link

Visited 1 times, 1 visit(s) today

Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang reiterates need for executive-led governance in HK

發佈日期: 2026-03-07 21:09 TVB News 粵已複製連結 Speaking to deputies from Hong Kong to the National People’s Congress, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang reiterated the importance of executive-led governance and urged Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to conduct proper research with the goal of realising more results. Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, who oversees Hong Kong and Macao

7 March 2026

Amina Bokhary, niece of top judge, found dead at Hong Kong home: source

A Hong Kong woman who made tabloid headlines for her repeated brushes with the law and prominent family name has been found dead in her home, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source told SCMP on Saturday that a 90-year-old woman surnamed Bokhary had reported to police the day before that her daughter

7 March 2026

CK Hutchison subsidiary seeks US$2 billion for Panama’s takeover of canal ports

A subsidiary of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings is seeking US$2 billion in damages from the Panamanian government over what it described as the “illegal takeover” of the operations of two ports at either end of the strategic canal. In a statement issued on Friday, the Panama Ports Company (PPC) said it had submitted

7 March 2026

Hong Kong growth on track to hit target despite Middle East war, finance chief says

Hong Kong’s economic growth forecast of between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent for the year will not be affected by the Middle East war, which will hurt the trading sector but benefit the financial market, according to the city’s financial chief. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also said on Saturday the city would

7 March 2026

HKTB’s Paul Lam says LIV Golf Hong Kong has become “one of the city’s most significant events”. Photo: Elson Li

LIV Golf Hong Kong starts to tick boxes, with bumper crowd set for 3-way fight on last day

A large crowd spent much of Saturday following Jon Rahm around Fanling as he made his way up the leaderboard at LIV Golf Hong Kong – further evidence, if any were needed, that the tournament is quickly establishing itself as an important part of the city’s social and sporting calendar. And while attendance figures will

7 March 2026

Hong Kong urged to review fuel prices amid ‘unfair’ cost increase accusations

Hong Kong authorities have been urged to review the pricing mechanism for local fuel supplies after petrol retailers were accused of swiftly raising prices as conflict erupted in the Middle East, even though the city had not yet exhausted its weeks-long stockpile. Global fuel prices have soared since the US-Israel war with Iran broke out,

7 March 2026

Health authorities probe possible food poisoning cluster at police college

Authorities have launched an investigation into a potential food poisoning cluster that has affected 53 trainees understood to be from the Hong Kong Police College. The Department of Health said on Saturday that 48 male and five female trainees, aged 20 to 40, had developed symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever since Thursday

7 March 2026

Hong Kong police step up security at consulates of nations in Middle East conflict

Hong Kong police have stepped up security around the consulates and officials of countries involved in the Middle East conflict, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said officers had increased patrols at the consulates as a precaution since the outbreak of the conflict. The United States and Israel launched a massive attack

7 March 2026

Hong Kong authorities propose ferry fare adjustments to keep operators afloat

Hong Kong transport authorities have proposed adjusting single-journey fares for six ferry routes from April 1, marking the first time in nearly three years, with some fares to rise by 12.5 per cent, while certain high-speed journeys will become cheaper. In a document submitted to the Islands District Council, the Transport Department said its fare

7 March 2026

‘I can’t sleep’: Iranian in Hong Kong gripped by fear as war intensifies

Behzad Mirzaei, who has lived in Hong Kong for three decades, is losing sleep as tensions involving Iran escalate, worried about his elderly mother in Tehran. The founder of the Persian Club is among Hong Kong’s small Iranian community who are watching the war with mounting anxiety, waiting for daily updates and fearing for loved

7 March 2026

The professor was also reported to have visited the campuses of four of Sydney’s top high schools. Photo: Handout

CUHK professor suspended for posing as schoolboy to take photos of pupils in Australia

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has suspended an academic who reportedly pleaded guilty to posing as a schoolboy to photograph pupils at an elite boys’ school in Australia. Australian media reported that Johnny Li Siu-hang, a professor at CUHK’s business school, was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly dressing in the uniform of the

7 March 2026

High-rise office towers at One Pacific Place, Admiralty, with a large outdoor clock and trees in the foreground.

The last of Hong Kong’s colonial-era trainee schemes

Tony Tyler was determined to find work abroad after he graduated with an Oxford law degree in 1977. After applying to a smattering of shipping and logistics groups he discovered Swire, the British-owned, pan-Asian conglomerate. “They said: ‘Look, you go out to Hong Kong . . . to work in the east and you’ll never come back,’” said Tyler,

7 March 2026

As Iran war closes Middle East skies, how high can Cathay Pacific fares fly?

Travellers are paying double the usual airfare on Cathay Pacific Airways flights from more than 50 cities to Hong Kong as the Iran war drives up demand for routes that avoid the conflict zone, with London, Madrid and Chennai seeing the steepest surges, the South China Morning Post has found. The US-Israeli attacks on Iran

7 March 2026

Pointer-CAD is a framework built on Alibaba Group Holding’s Qwen 2.5 model. Photo: Reuters

Chinese start-up DeepSeek teams with Tencent, HKU on AI tool to sharpen 3D design

The team proposed Pointer-CAD, a framework built on Alibaba Group Holding’s Qwen 2.5 model, which helps designers select edges or faces of a 3D object, increasing the accuracy and efficiency in computer-aided design (CAD), a tool widely used in engineering, manufacturing and architecture. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. The new method could “effectively

7 March 2026

A top down view of houses in Sydney’s Birchgrove area. Photo: Getty Images

As the world’s wealthy relocate, rewriting the property map, will Hong Kong win out?

From Sydney to Hong Kong, wealth migration is reshaping the global super-luxury property market as activity picks up after two subdued years – though the dominance of relative newcomer Dubai is now being tested by the war in the Middle East. In Sydney, Peter Li, general manager at Plus Agency, said commission revenues on super-luxury

7 March 2026

Legco president Starry Lee has highlighted the legislature’s efforts to support the national 15th five-year plan. Photo: Eugene Lee

‘Deliver more practical outcomes,’ Chinese vice-premier tells Hong Kong Legco

Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang has urged Hong Kong’s legislature to deliver more “practical outcomes” that align with the city’s actual conditions and meet Beijing’s expectations under the executive-led governance system. Emphasising the importance of the executive-led system for the second day in a row, the state leader reiterated on Saturday that its implementation was not

7 March 2026

Angry at your boss? A Hong Kong business lets you rage against machines

Destroying a fridge with a baseball bat or smashing glass bottles against a wall would normally be considered signs of hooliganism or problematic anger issues in Hong Kong. But tucked away in an industrial building in Kowloon Bay district, Smashroom HK is providing residents with exactly that opportunity, and the founders have said it is

7 March 2026

Hong Kong Tech Innovators Drive Success at Mobile World Congress and 4YFN Barcelona 2026

Showcases Hong Kong’s Research-to-Market Strength, Unlocks New Partnership Opportunities in Europe HONG KONG – March 6, 2026 (NEWMEDIAWIRE) – Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), in collaboration with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), led a delegation of 20 local innovation and technology (I&T) companies and institutions to Barcelona, Spain, concluding a highly

6 March 2026

Hong Kong Tech Innovators Showcases Research-to-Market Strength, Unlocks New Partnership Opportunities in Europe

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), in collaboration with Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), led a delegation of 20 local innovation and technology (I&T) companies and institutions to Barcelona, Spain, concluding a highly successful participation at the world’s premier connectivity event—Mobile World Congress (MWC), and debuted at the startup-centric stage—4 Years From

6 March 2026

Hong Kong women’s football team happy to be home after anxious wait in Dubai

The Hong Kong women’s football team made it home safely on Friday night after several anxious days stranded in Dubai following the US-Israel attacks on Iran, with members expressing relief at their return but disappointment about having to withdraw from a tournament. Twenty-seven players and staff landed in Hong Kong via Bangkok, where they had

6 March 2026

Opinion | Paul Chan must deliver the fiscal discipline Hong Kong needs

Related Article