Tung Vows to Take Strong Measures to Deal with Deficit

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 08, 2002

Tung Vows to Take Strong Measures to Deal with Deficit

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Administrative Region Tung Chee Hwa on Saturday vows to take strong measures to control expenditure and raise revenue in a bid to reviving the economy.

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Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Administrative Region Tung Chee Hwa on Saturday vows to take strong measures to control expenditure and raise revenue in a bid to reviving the economy.

Tung told reporters at the Government Secretariat that he had a discussion with colleagues on the fiscal deficit problem Saturday morning.

The chief executive said that deflation has seriously affected public revenue. "If we do not strictly control public expenditure,the worsening deficit will damage the foundation of our economy, cause instability to our monetary system and increase unemployment," he warned.

He said that the government will deal with the deficit problem in three areas. "We shall make the best effort to revive the economy, to strictly control expenditure, and to appropriately raise revenue," he added.

"On controlling expenditure, we have set a target to reduce theoperating expenditure to 200 billion HK dollars (25.6 billion US dollars) by the 2006-2007 fiscal year, representing a reduction ofthe estimates by 20 billion HK dollars (2.56 billion US dollars),"Tung said.

"Coupled with measures to raise revenues and to revive the economy, we strive to restore fiscal balance by 2006-2007," he said.

"Resolving fiscal deficit is our priority. Every sector of the community has to share the responsibility. But the government mustset a good example," the chief executive said.

At the meeting this morning, all participants indicated that they fully understood the problem and pledged to make a joint effort to achieve the important target, he added.

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