The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) reports a record surplus of 21.4 billion HK dollars (2.74 billion US dollars) for the 2004-05 financial year, an improvement of 9.4 billion HK dollars (1.20 billion US dollars) over the revised surplus of 12 billion HK dollars (1.54 billion US dollars) forecast in the 2005-06 Budget.

According to a government press release Wednesday, revenue was1.9 billion HK dollars (243 million US dollars), better than expected, largely as a result of additional receipts from salaries tax, stamp duties and land premiums. Expenditure was 7.5 billion HK dollars (961 million US dollars) lower than forecast.

Revenue for the whole financial year was 263.6 billion HK dollars (33.79 billion US dollars) with 242.2 billion HK dollars (31.05 billion US dollars in spending recorded.

On March 31, fiscal reserves stood at 296 billion HK dollars (37.94 billion US dollars), a surge of 20.7 billion HK dollars (2.65 billion US dollars) compared with the balance of 275.3 billion HK dollars (35.29 billion US dollars) on March 31 last year.

Source: Xinhua