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Wednesday, February 28, 1973
INCREASED SPENDING ON SOCIAL SERVICES ·
Total Expenditure In 1973-74 Estimated At $4,409 Million
*
Big increases in spending on education, housing and other social
services for the people of Hong Kong are shown in the 1973-74 draft
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure tabled in the Legislative Council today.
Compared with the 1972-73 financial year, expenditure on the
Social Services group shows an increase of over 24 per cent.
At $1,651 million, it accounts for the biggest portion (38 per
cent) of the total expenditure and includes:
Education
Medical and Health
Housing
Social Welfare
at $817 million ($683 million)
at $442 million ($375 million)
at $278 million ($192 million)
at $102 million ($67 million)
at $12 million ($11 million)
Labour
(Note: The figure given in brackets represents the original
estimated expenduture for 1972-73).
The total spending for the next financial year amounts to a record
34,409 million.
This represents an increase of about 20 per cent as
compared with the current year and is more than three times the actual
expenditure ten years ago.
This money will also be spent on four main groups of services
other than Social Services.
Compared with 1972-73, a 22 per cent increase is shown in the spending
on Community Services, the second largest amount after Social Services.
This