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Reporter (in Chinese): About the medium range forecast, what is the basis for your projection in terms of expenditure? What programmes do you have in mind, what programmes have been included?
Mr KC Kwong (in Chinese): For the medium range forecast, the expenditure side, for recurrent expenditure it is very simple we follow the trend growth rate, we follow the ceiling, and we will spend to the full. As for capital expenditure, we have to consider our Works Departments and the progress of the works projects, their capability there. So after considering these two sides we come up with the projection for the next few years about the expenditure for each of the years. As for these forecasts, they have not included the railway priority projects. The reason is this: for these major priority railway projects, the details are still being handled by the two railway companies and our consultants and we will only have more information by the end of this year or early next year. By that time we will have a more concrete picture. Perhaps we can reach some sort of agreement with them. Under the circumstances, the amounts to be allocated, the timing of the allocation and the form of allocation, we still have to thrash it out. So in terms of the MRF we have not considered this sort of requirement. But as Mr Tsang said, say if we look at the figures for the ACP and for the MTRC, if we look at that experience then from 1998 to the year 2001 the requirement may reach $50 billion.
Reporter (in English): Stamp duty, and you also announced how much land will be released over the next five years, how can you say that speculation won't be fuelled by these two measures?
Mr Donald Tsang (in English): Well, supply of land, if I increase supply then that will certainly have a stabilising effect on prices, it will not increase speculation. As far as stamp duty is concerned, the stamp duty concessions were given largely for flats valued at $4 million and below and these are Home Ownership flats or Private Sector Participation Scheme flats where the market is restricted, so where speculative activity is unlikely to be rampant.
Reporter (in English): Mr Tsang, could you tell us a little bit more about the several railway projects? The fact that it will cost $50 billion. And when will the expenditure be drawn-down, and also how are you going to allocate that? And is it that KCRC and MTRC have already worked out who will be responsible or what railways?
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