5 July 1989
———一九八九年七月五日
19
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -
香港立法局
SUPPLEMENTARY APPROPRIATION (1988-89) BILL 1989
THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY moved the Second Reading of: "A Bill to
approve a supplementary appropriation to the service of the financial year which ended on 31 March 1989."
He said: Sir, I move that the Supplementary Appropriation (1988-89) Bill 1989 be read the Second time.
Section 9 of the Public Finance Ordinance states that "If at the close of account for any financial year it is found that expenditure charged to any head is in excess of the sum appropriated for that head by an Appropriation Ordinance, the excess shall be included in a Supplementary Appropriation Bill which shall be introduced into the Legislative Council as soon as practicable after the close of the financial year to which the excess expenditure relates".
The accounts for the financial year 1988-89 have been finalized by the Director of Accounting Services. Actual revenue amounted to $65,781 million and total expenditure amounted to $48,953 million. The final surplus is thus $16,828 million as compared with an estimated surplus of $16,630 million mentioned in the concluding speech in the Budget debate in May.
The expenditure charged to 46 heads is in excess of the sum appropriated for those heads by the Appropriation Ordinance 1988. This is because sufficient offsetting savings could not be found within the heads concerned. In accordance with section 9 of the Public Finance Ordinance, this excess has been included in the Supplementary Appropriation (1988-89) Bill 1989 now before Members. The Bill seeks to give final legislative authority for the amount of supplementary provision approved in respect of particular heads of expenditure by the Finance Committee or under powers delegated by it.
The total net supplementary appropriation required in respect of the 46 heads of expenditure is $4,255.1 million. This excess is largely accounted for by the 1988 Pay Adjustment and the revised salary scales for the disciplined services in respect of the Civil Service in the amount of $1,547.8 million and government subvented organizations in the amount of $588.1 million. Other major contributing factors include the payment of the Hong Kong Government's cash contribution towards the cost of the garrison in 1988-89 in the amount of $1,407.0 million, the Value Added Tax and Salaries Tax on Allowances incurred under the 1981 Defence Costs Agreement in the amount of $266.0 million and the expenses in implementing the new Student Travel Scheme in the amount of $247.2 million.