Hong Kong's Slim Budget
在衰退不断加深的情况下，香港财政司司长曾俊华(John Tsang)拿出的财政预算案并非一份耗资巨大的经济刺激计划，批评人士指责他未能充分调用香港的财政储备资金来应对经济滑坡。虽然曾俊华引入了一次性减税以及就业创造计划来推动经济增长，但是他同时表示香港政府明年的支出将减少约5%，尽管香港的财政储备高达4,880亿港元（合630亿美元）。香港经济高度依赖国际贸易和金融，去年第四季度本地生产总值(GDP)下降了2.5%，为约十年来首度出现这样的萎缩。曾俊华预计2009年全年GDP将收缩2%-3%，并预计未来三年港府都将出现财政赤字。2008年香港的财政赤字为49亿港元，虽然少于此前政府预期的75亿港元，但毕竟是在之前连续四年录得盈余后首现赤字。曾俊华周三在向立法会宣读2009至2010年度政府财政预算案时说，这场世纪金融风暴已经由金融层面蔓延到实体经济，引致全球经济衰退。作为一个小型的开放经济体系，香港无可避免亦会受到打击，而其整体经济将会出现衰退。曾俊华在讲话中承认香港失业率上升及房价下降等问题。在香港，仅房价下滑就使房产“资不抵债”的房主数量在第四季度增加了四倍。曾俊华推出了一份价值16亿港元的“保就业”项目，将在未来三年中创造62,000个就业及实习机会，其中有很多岗位来自于对破旧楼宇的维修项目。曾俊华还同意下调物业税及所得税，减税将使政府的财政收入缩水约84亿港元。不过，在始于4月1日的新财年中香港政府将把支出降至3,016亿港元，不及上一财年3,178亿港元的估算值。针对财政支出减少的问题，曾俊华辩解说此前财年的数据因一些一次性措施而有所失真，而且他并不排除日后推出更多财政措施的可能。香港总商会(Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce)主席包立贤(Andrew Brandler)说，他原本希望政府在应对当前经济危机时能抛出更大的手笔。他说，现在是采取大胆行动的时候，就像世界其他地方的政府那样；很多年来香港的财政司司长都在为财政储备积累资金；未雨绸缪是明智之举，而现在大雨倾盆，该采取行动了。高盛(Goldman Sachs)分析师分析师雪拉•桑姆(Shirla Sum)在一份研究报告中指出，保守的预算难以在政策层面抵消外部环境不断恶化的现实情况。香港政府周三还表示计划发行政府债券，不过曾俊华并未透露可能的发债规模。香港政府首次于2004年发行了200亿港元的政府债券。Chester Yung / Jonathan Cheng相关阅读香港08年GDP增2.5% 增幅低于预期 2009-02-25港证监会令电讯盈科私有化不确定性增大 2009-02-25香港政府预计09年GDP将下降2%-3%；提高支出预算 2009-02-25
Confronted with a deepening recession, Hong Kong financial secretary John Tsang announced a budget that shunned costly stimulus plans, even as critics complained he wasn't doing enough with the city's accumulated wealth to counteract the slowdown.While Mr. Tsang introduced one-off tax breaks and a job-creation program to boost the economy, he also said government spending instead will shrink by about 5% next year, despite the territory's 488 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$63 billion) in fiscal reserves.Hong Kong's economy, which leans heavily on international trade and finance, saw its gross domestic product shrink by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, the first such contraction in about a decade. Mr. Tsang said he also expected a GDP slowdown of 2% to 3% for all of 2009, and predicted the government would run a budget deficit for the next three years. The year's deficit was HK$4.9 billion, smaller than earlier government estimates of HK$7.5 billion, but following four years of surpluses.'This once-in-a-century financial turmoil has spread from the financial markets to the real economy, leading to a synchronized global recession,' Mr. Tsang said Wednesday in his annual budget address to local lawmakers. 'Being a small, open economy, Hong Kong will inevitably be hit by the turmoil.'In his speech, Mr. Tsang acknowledged a rising unemployment rate, as well as falling home prices that in the fourth quarter alone quintupled the number of 'underwater' homeowners who own properties worth less than the money owed on them.In response, Mr. Tsang unveiled a HK$1.6 billion initiative that he said would create 62,000 jobs and internships over the next three years, much of it devoted to repairing dilapidated buildings. Mr. Tsang also proposed one-off concessions on property and income taxes that will cost the government about HK$8.4 billion.Spending, however, will decrease to HK$301.6 billion for the fiscal year starting April 1, down from estimated spending of HK$317.8 billion in the previous fiscal year. Mr. Tsang defended the decrease by saying the previous year's figures were distorted by one-time measures, adding that he 'won't rule out more fiscal measures later.'Andrew Brandler, chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said he had hoped for a more aggressive government response to the crisis. 'This is a time for bold action, as seen by the steps taken by governments around the world,' Mr. Brandler said. 'For many years, financial secretaries have put money into our fiscal reserves. This was prudently done in anticipation of a rainy day, and that day has come.'Goldman Sachs analyst Shirla Sum wrote in a research note that the 'conservative budget' offered 'few policy offsets against the backdrop of a weakening external environment.'The government also said Wednesday that it would issue sovereign debt, its first such move since it issued HK$20 billion in government bonds in 2004, but Mr. Tsang didn't indicate an amount.Chester Yung / Jonathan Cheng
Confronted with a deepening recession, Hong Kong financial secretary John Tsang announced a budget that shunned costly stimulus plans, even as critics complained he wasn't doing enough with the city's accumulated wealth to counteract the slowdown.While Mr. Tsang introduced one-off tax breaks and a job-creation program to boost the economy, he also said government spending instead will shrink by about 5% next year, despite the territory's 488 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$63 billion) in fiscal reserves.Hong Kong's economy, which leans heavily on international trade and finance, saw its gross domestic product shrink by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, the first such contraction in about a decade. Mr. Tsang said he also expected a GDP slowdown of 2% to 3% for all of 2009, and predicted the government would run a budget deficit for the next three years. The year's deficit was HK$4.9 billion, smaller than earlier government estimates of HK$7.5 billion, but following four years of surpluses.'This once-in-a-century financial turmoil has spread from the financial markets to the real economy, leading to a synchronized global recession,' Mr. Tsang said Wednesday in his annual budget address to local lawmakers. 'Being a small, open economy, Hong Kong will inevitably be hit by the turmoil.'In his speech, Mr. Tsang acknowledged a rising unemployment rate, as well as falling home prices that in the fourth quarter alone quintupled the number of 'underwater' homeowners who own properties worth less than the money owed on them.In response, Mr. Tsang unveiled a HK$1.6 billion initiative that he said would create 62,000 jobs and internships over the next three years, much of it devoted to repairing dilapidated buildings. Mr. Tsang also proposed one-off concessions on property and income taxes that will cost the government about HK$8.4 billion.Spending, however, will decrease to HK$301.6 billion for the fiscal year starting April 1, down from estimated spending of HK$317.8 billion in the previous fiscal year. Mr. Tsang defended the decrease by saying the previous year's figures were distorted by one-time measures, adding that he 'won't rule out more fiscal measures later.'Andrew Brandler, chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said he had hoped for a more aggressive government response to the crisis. 'This is a time for bold action, as seen by the steps taken by governments around the world,' Mr. Brandler said. 'For many years, financial secretaries have put money into our fiscal reserves. This was prudently done in anticipation of a rainy day, and that day has come.'Goldman Sachs analyst Shirla Sum wrote in a research note that the 'conservative budget' offered 'few policy offsets against the backdrop of a weakening external environment.'The government also said Wednesday that it would issue sovereign debt, its first such move since it issued HK$20 billion in government bonds in 2004, but Mr. Tsang didn't indicate an amount.Chester Yung / Jonathan Cheng