The government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said Thursday it recorded a deficit of 8.4 billion HK dollars (about 1.08 billion US dollars) for the two-month period ending May 31, 2005.

Spending for the April to May period was 38.4 billion HK dollars (about 4.94 billion US dollars) with 30 billion HK dollars (about 3.86 billion US dollars) in revenue recorded.

A deficit in the initial months of a financial year is not unusual as many types of revenue, including taxes, are mostly received towards the end of the year.

On May 31, fiscal reserves stood at 287.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 37 billion US dollars).

Source: Xinhua