Letters | Budget lacked fresh vision for Hong Kong’s economic future

Readers discuss the shortcomings of the 2024-25 budget, how housing affects the birth rate, and schools’ approach to discussion of sex and dating

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A woman shields her eyes at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront on January 30. Hong Kong’s financial secretary delivered a budget speech on February 28 that emphasised the need to rein in government expenditure. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 11:30am, 14 Mar 2024

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The relaxation of property market cooling measures announced in the recent budget has sparked much discussion. The government has scrapped the “harsh measures” previously implemented to bring down soaring property prices.

In other words, the government wants to see a rebound in property prices, which would not only revive Hong Kong’s economy but also benefit the government itself, whether through increased stamp duty revenue from property transactions or greater income from land sales.

Historically, a significant portion of the Hong Kong government’s revenue has been closely tied to the land and property market. However, whether these measures will prove effective within a short period remains to be seen.

An additional source of government revenue this year is the planned issuance of HK$120 billion (US$15.3 billion) in bonds. However, former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has warned against the government using loans to address not only non-recurrent spending but also recurrent expenditure.

Apart from the aforementioned measures, this year’s budget does not have any major revenue-generating initiatives but rather focuses on expenditure constraints.