sir, I move that the Appropriation Bill 1988 be read the Second time.'
Last year in presenting my first Budget to this Council I warned that Hong Kong remained as vulnerable as ever
to external forces, and that volatility in our economic performance was inevitable. Like others I recognised that there
were some clouds on the horizon but I did not predict when the
storm would break. The warnings I gave then remain valid today.
Already there are signs that the extraordinarily rapid growth we have enjoyed over the last two years is slowing down.
2.
As 1987 progressed, it became apparent that the
economy, including our stock market, was becoming overheated.
Few, however,
however, foresaw the full extent of the October crash,
which affected not only Hong Kong's stock market but also stock
markets worldwide. I shall be referring later in this speech
to those events and the aftermath. But I mention them now for
three reasons. First, I think it is important to note that we still cannot say with any certainty what will be their effect
on the world economy and therefore on Hong Kong itself. Secondly, in Hong Kong and in some other major markets attention has become sharply focussed on the operation and structure of the market place. Many are asking what improvements need to be made to ensure that the markets are capable of carrying out job for which they are intended. Thirdly, perhaps the single most important message that has come through clearly is that technology has increasingly made the world a single market.
There may be many players but there is only one play.
3.
2
But today we must not let ourselves be overcome by
gloom. Almost all the economic indicators show that Hong Kong has done extremely well in the last twelve months and our immediate prospects are good.-- What I shall be saying this
afternoon will reveal the extent to which our buoyant economy
will enable me not only to increase the provision of government
services but also to ease the tax burden on the community without putting our economy or the longer term stability of our budgetary management at undue risk.
の
3
/4. A