FINANCIAL SYSTEM AND ECONOMY
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For 1980-1 the estimated revenue of $21,036 million and gross expenditure of $18,442 million give an estimated surplus of $2,594 million for the year.
Public Debt
At March 31, 1980, net available public financial assets were $9,339 million, while the public debt was equivalent to some $423 million about $84 per head of population. Indebtedness increased by some $19 million during 1979-80. This was principally due to drawings on loans from the Asian Development Bank towards the Sha Tin sewage treat- ment project, the Sha Tin urban development (housing) project and the Sha Tin hospital and polyclinic project, offset by instalment repayment of borrowings under the Asian Development Bank loan towards the Lok On Pai desalting project and under the loan from Lloyds Bank International Limited and the repayment in full of the drawing of US$6 million (equivalent to HK$30.5 million) from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Consortium loan facility. The only other outstanding borrowing was in respect of the issue of $250 million of government 61% bonds in 1975-6 which was repayable in November, 1980.
Urban Council
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The Urban Council, operating through the Urban Services Department, is free to draw up its own budget and to determine its own priorities in expenditure within its various spheres of activity. This expenditure is financed mainly through the Urban Council rate, and from fees and charges for the services and facilities which the council provides. In the 1980-1 financial year, the council worked to an overall budget of $771 million.
Housing Authority
The Housing Authority, which also is financially autonomous, is responsible for the provi- sion and management of public housing. The authority's executive arm is the Housing Department. Under the Housing Ordinance, the authority is required to ensure that its income, derived mainly from rent, is sufficient to meet its recurrent expenditure on the management of public housing estates. In providing new housing estates under the govern- ment's public housing programme, the authority is provided with land, the value of which is reflected in the authority's balance sheet as a government contribution. Where its cash flow is inadequate to meet construction costs, the authority within limits may borrow from the Development Loan Fund. In the 1977-8 financial year, loans amounting to $300 million, made to the authority for this purpose in earlier years, were converted into a government contribution towards the provision of public housing in Hong Kong.
The Housing Authority is also responsible for squatter control, the clearance of squatters from Crown land required for development, and the development of temporary housing and temporary industrial areas. The cost of these activities is met in full from the govern- ment's general revenue. The authority is the agent of the government in designing, con- structing, marketing and managing the flats and commercial facilities under the Home Ownership Scheme; the flats are financed through the Home Ownership Fund, while the commercial facilities are financed from the Development Loan Fund.
Revenue from Land Sales
Revenue received by the government from land transactions in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon is estimated to yield $6,249 million in 1980-1, compared with the actual collection in 1979-80 of $2,845 million.