Rainy days and a ‘listening ear’: did Hong Kong’s finance chief deliver in his budget address?
- Analysts note the finance chief has cast aside many long-standing restraints and conventional wisdom of public finances
- Others say he has been more willing to listen to stakeholders, after witnessing the biggest fiscal deficit last year
It has been the catchphrase of Hong Kong’s finance chiefs since the city returned to Chinese rule that the government should save surpluses in the public coffers for a “rainy day”.
Confronted by what he described as “the hardest time in the fight against the epidemic”, he dished out a HK$170 billion (US$21.78 billion) relief package with billions in funding earmarked for public health measures when he unveiled the final budget of the current administration’s five-year term.
The latest relief package is more than double the size of sweeteners worth HK$80 billion in his budget last year.
Analysts noted the finance chief had cast aside many long-standing restraints and conventional wisdom of public finances.
One of the most eye-catching relief measures is a new tax reduction starting from this financial year for those who rent their homes while also having to pay salaries tax or tax under personal assessment. The deduction is capped at HK$100,000 a year per person, and is projected to cost HK$3.3 billion in government revenue.
