The latest issue of the monthlyeconomic review of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) showed that the outlook of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's finance is improving.

By examining the outcome for the first ten months of the current fiscal year, the report pointed out the HKSAR government'syear-to-date balance registers a surplus of 22.4 billion Hong Kongdollars (2.87 billion US dollars), the first surplus since Hong Kong returned to the motherland in 1997.

The figure fundamentally changes the fiscal landscape that has been plagued by nagging deficit, said the report.

Based on historical performance of the last two months of a fiscal year, it is estimated that the full year consolidated surplus could reach 26 billion Hong Kong dollars, the report said.

Even net of the incomes from bond issuance, the HKSAR government could still reap a small surplus. And cost cutting has indeed made progress, the report added.

Source: Xinhua