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Hong Kong’s Budget is back in the black – but not without sacrifice
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Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan has brought the city out of the red three years earlier than expected.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
- Hong Kong achieved an earlier HK$2.9 billion fiscal surplus for 2025-26, thanks to an asset market boom and austerity measures.
- Govt plans HK$30 billion for AI development and the Northern Metropolis tech hub, alongside tax cuts for businesses and residents.
- Achieving the surplus involved civil service job cuts, reduced education/social funding, and tapping the Exchange Fund for the first time in 40 years.
AI generated
The dice are finally rolling in Hong Kong’s favour again.
With good timing and some skilled accounting – including civil service job cuts and education funding reductions – Financial Secretary Paul Chan has brought the city out of the red
