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Hong Kong may take ‘year or two’ extra to return to budget surplus amid sluggish economy, reduced land sales: Paul Chan

  • Finance chief says surplus may take longer than original estimate of 2025-26 financial year
  • Secretary also offers assurances that efforts to secure new land will continue despite developers’ lack of appetite

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Hong Kong authorities will take a consolidated approach to spending in the coming year, the city’s finance chief has said. Photo: Dickson Lee

Hong Kong may take “a year or two” longer than expected to return to a budget surplus, according to the finance chief, who attributed the delay to a sluggish city economy and reduced land sales limiting government income.

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Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Saturday also said public coffers would be drained of more than HK$110 billion (US$14.1 billion) in the current financial year and offered assurances that efforts to secure new land would continue despite developers’ lack of appetite.

Looking ahead, Chan said the presidential election in the United States could create headwinds for Hong Kong’s economy, but the expected end of the interest rate hike cycle and possible better growth in mainland China might provide a boost at home.

The secretary was speaking at a televised consultation session before next month’s budget speech, where many attendees said they were concerned about the deficit.

One audience member, who identified himself only as Kwan, said he was worried the city would be forced to rely on borrowing to sustain public spending in the long run.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan (centre) appears at a public consultation ahead of his budget speech next month, with academic Billy Mak (left). Photo: Facebook/Paul Chan
Financial Secretary Paul Chan (centre) appears at a public consultation ahead of his budget speech next month, with academic Billy Mak (left). Photo: Facebook/Paul Chan

But Chan said authorities had taken a “fiscal consolidation” approach to cut spending and that a return to a surplus was on the horizon, but it would take “a year or two” longer than earlier expected.

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