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Translation
DRAFT SPEECH BY HON WONG PO-YAN, OBE, JP
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
A
27.3.85
Budget Debate 1985
Sir,
In moving the second reading of the Appropriation Bill for the next financial year in this Council, the Financial Secretary quoted in the last paragraph of his concise but comprehensive speech the words of the great writer Charles Dickens: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery". We can well understand his great misery when he presented this year's
budget with a deficit of $1 billion. However, we should all admire his courage and determination that in the face of difficult and financially stringent times he has taken good care in his budget of the various future developments in Hong
Kong and the maintenance of major programmes, thus laying the foundation for the further development of Hong Kong. For the vast majority who are in need of housing, he promises to build more HOS flats at an annual rate of 44,000 units. He is also very generous in the allocation of funds for education, medical and health and social welfare, thus increasing the proportion of such allocation as in the previous budgets. As reflected
from these measures, we can see the Financial Secretary's responsible attitude towards the future and the long-term benefits of Hong Kong. We can expect the utmost understanding to come from those who have to shoulder a heavier burden in
taxes in different degrees in the various budgetary items.
As a result of the severe restraint in expenditure,
the proportion of public sector expenditure to GDP has dropped to 16.4% last year and it is estimated that this will further
fall to 16% in the year 1985-86. This hard-earned achievement
is also quite close to my expectation of a fall to 15% as mentioned in my budget debate in the Legislative Council on 28 March 1984. I consider this to be a good step forward in the
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