continued payment of pensions after 1997. There is no
reason to believe that this undertaking will not be honoured
by the future SAR Government. Pensions payments represent only a very small percentage of annual recurrent expenditure
and the Hong Kong Government have every confidence that
future pension payments can be met.
Nevertheless, the Hong Kong Government are considering
whether any further measures can be taken to address the
concerns expressed by your members and other civil service
staff associations. While full funding of pensions has been ruled out for financial reasons, careful consideration is
being given to other possibilities, including partial funding of pensions, higher commutation of pensions and the establishment of a provident fund.
MATAAG/3
Peter Tibber
Private Secretary to
Earl of Caithness