If economic situation allows, the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will not raise taxes in
the March 16 Budget, Financial Secretary Henry Tang said
Saturday.
Tang made the remarks while attending a budget forum to listen
to public views on his forthcoming budget.
Tang said in view of a revival in the economy, revenues in a
number of areas, such as land sales, are better than expected.
It is normal that the public will have expectations, which have
made this year's budget preparation more difficult than last year,
he said.
However, the government should not be over-reliant on
non-recurrent income to pay for recurrent expenditure, he
added.
Most of the targets laid down in the last budget have been met,
including the creation of more job vacancies. Up to now more than
130,000 jobs have been created.
He said he understands the thinking of the middle class and
requests to cut taxes are still being considered.
Tang said he will adopt a pragmatic approach in preparing the
budget and the target to achieve fiscal balance by 2008-2009
remains unchanged.
?
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2005)