The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government runs a fiscal deficit of 37.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 4.85 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019-2020, the first time for Hong Kong over the past 15 years, the HKSAR government's Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Wednesday.
The 2019-2020 revised estimate on government revenue is 567.3 billion Hong Kong dollars, lower than the original estimate by 9.4 percent, while the revised estimate on government expenditure is 611.4 billion Hong Kong dollars, 0.6 percent higher than the original estimate, Chan said when delivering the annual budget at the HKSAR Legislative Council.
"All in all, I forecast a deficit of 37.8 billion Hong Kong dollars for 2019-2020. Fiscal reserves are expected to be 1,133.1 billion Hong Kong dollars by March 31, 2020," Chan said.
This is the first time for the HKSAR government to run a fiscal deficit over the past 15 years, Chan pointed out, adding that he forecast a deficit for the next five years as well. (1 Hong Kong dollar equals about 0.13 U.S. dollars)
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