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Making Good Use of Resources to Paint a Brighter Future for Hong Kong

The Budget for the coming financial year will be delivered on 22 February 2023, which will set out plans to allocate public resources for the coming financial year and in the longer term. Our goal in working on the Budget is to take a forward-looking approach and plan for economy recovery on the road to normalcy, and to create a strong impetus for growth at full speed as the city embarks on a new journey from good governance to prosperity. Taking into account the fact that resources are limited, we also need to address the pressing needs of the community and provide members of the public with better and more high-quality public services.

To better understand the views and needs of members of the public and different stakeholders, we have started the public consultation for next year’s Budget and launched relevant publicity. Members of the public are welcome to express their views through our dedicated website or Facebook page for the Budget, or by email, phone (2810 3768), fax (2147 5770) or post (Budget Consultation Support Team, 24/F, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong). The views and suggestions received will serve as valuable reference for our preparation for the Budget.

Having prepared for each year’s Budget over the past few years, I have come to reckon deep in my heart the importance of gathering views widely. Even if we share similar visions and common objectives, there may be drastically different views on how to realise them, setting of priorities and phasing in implementation. Through a series of activities for consultation, we hope to communicate more directly with members of the public and stakeholders from different sectors, so as to better understand their needs and expectations on the Budget, the “pain points” faced by the community, and enhancements needed in the implementation of measures.

Communication and exchanges will enable us to become more holistic in contemplating policies and improve our narrative; and better plan our work and chart the details. Apart from facilitating members of the public to understand and support our policy initiatives, such interactions would be key to uniting the forces of the community.

During the consultation sessions held with different sectors, quite a number of participants expressed concerns about Hong Kong’s fiscal position, and took the view that the Government should scale down “sweeteners” so as to reduce expenditure and lower the level of fiscal deficit, thus avoiding a further drop in fiscal reserves. While there are points in these views, some others saw that the economy is still sluggish, and small to medium enterprises as well as the livelihood of our residents, especially that of the grassroots, are still under pressure. They considered that the Government should give appropriate support to these parties. As the provider of public services and manager of public finances, we need to see the whole picture and at the same time take care of various sections; and balance different considerations and formulate proposals that can cater for the needs of the parties concerned.

In fact, the environment under which we prepare for the 2023-24 Budget would be more challenging than that of the previous year. With geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, elevated inflation, aggressive tightening of monetary policies by major central banks across the globe, soaring interest rates and sustained impact brought by the epidemic, we envisage a negative economic growth of 3.2% for 2022 and a fiscal deficit amounting to over $100 billion for this financial year. Heading towards 2023, further relaxation of anti-epidemic measures in Hong Kong and the Mainland would facilitate activities of members of the public and the economy to a greater extent. Cross-boundary travel and economic activities would also gradually resume. Despite the complicated and volatile external environment, the business sector in general has become more optimistic about economic recovery next year. That said, we should remain cautious about the uncertainties arising from possible abrupt shifts in market expectation and investment sentiment.

As our community is gradually resuming normal with our economy beginning to stabilise, members of the public are still expecting relief measures as part of the counter-cyclical measures taken by the Government. On the road to economic recovery, there is also a pressing need to ride on the recovery momentum and allocate additional resources to promote economic development, thus allowing Hong Kong to enjoy speedy, robust and steady social and economic development in future.

Each of us may have different aspirations about the future of Hong Kong. To build a better future for our home, we need to work together to turn our thoughts into specific and feasible proposals, and for our vision to materialise. We must face the challenges in front of us, and at the same time pay due attention to the need for longer-term development. It is important that we set our sights far enough so that we can see the trend of future development opportunities and challenges. Only by doing so could we have ample space to create wealth for the community and allocate resources to address their needs. By making good use of resources, we will paint a brighter future for Hong Kong.

December 18, 2022