Commentators saw the budget Chan’s own ambition to stay in the job
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has sought to be more aggressive than his predecessor in shaping public finances with , vowing to review the city’s tax system but retain fiscal prudence. Making a case for change from the previous finance chief, Chun-wah, who quit the job in December to run for the city’s leadership, Chan spelled out more proactive moves for taxes, the use of surpluses and land revenue forecasts. The formula for projecting land revenue will be updated for greater accuracy. “To me, the budget is not just a collection of cold hard figures. It also indicates the priorities set by the government in resource allocation, reflecting the values we hold,” Chan said. On tax, a policy unit will be set up to explore broadening the city’s tax base and examining the international competitiveness of Hong Kong’s tax regime. A recurrent measure will see the marginal bands for salaries tax widened to reduce the tax burden for 1.3 million taxpayers. The last time the tax bands were broadened was in 2008, by Tsang. Chan also undid Tsang’s policy of depositing part of the annual surplus into a Future Fund he set up in 2015. Instead of saving the surplus for unspecified uses, Chan said this year he would spend HK$61 billion, or 65 per cent of last year’s surplus, on services for the elderly and the disabled, sports, innovation and technology and youth development. Commentators saw the budget as mapping out not only a long-term vision for the city’s future but also Chan’s own ambition to stay in the job when his term expires in July. He said on Wednesday none of the chief executive contenders making a bid for the city’s top job had invited him to join their cabinet if they win. And Chan had formidable financial muscle to flex on Wednesday when he unveiled a budget replete with a higher-than-expected surplus of HK$92.
