$50.0 billion for General Revenue Account includes $3.8 billion for additional commitments to cover the usual range of new and unforeseen items that arise each year including possible salaries adjustments. In addition, this year, the provision allows for payments under a new Defence Cost Agreement when a new agreement is, in fact, concluded.
54.
When coupled with the estimated expenditure of other public bodies such as the Housing Authority and the Urban and Regional Councils, the estimated growth rate on Consolidated Account is 15.7% in cash terms and 7.0% in real terms; that is to say 1.5 percentage points above our budgetary guideline. The Kowloon Walled City project accounts for some 1.2 percentage points of this real growth in Consolidated Account expenditure. I am, therefore, satisfied that after excluding this exceptional and one-off project, the remaining growth is broadly consistent with my intention of keeping the underlying trend to around 5%.
55.
In coming to these figures full allowance has been made for the cost of running new facilities and for responding to the underlying growth in demand for many of our services. In addition, there has been room within my guidelines to finance a number of major improvements or entirely new services. Some Members will note particularly that provision is made for the recently announced improvements in welfare benefits for the elderly. In all, the improvements in services planned for 1988-89 will
will cost $560 million in the budget year and about $1.1 billion in a full year. A list of the more significant items is included in an Appendix to the printed version of this speech (23).
(23) Appendix D.
/56. Consolidated