XN000022-1973-02-28 — Page 6

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Wednesday, February 28, 1973

FUEL OIL DUTY TO BE ABOLISHED

Big Savings For Household And Industrial users

The duty of 10 cents per gallon on furnace oil used in the manufacture of electricity and gas will be abolished with effect from tomorrow (Thursday).

This was one of the proposals made by the Financial Secretary, the

Hon. C.P. Haddor--Cave, in his Budget speech in the Legislative Council this

afternoon.

Mr. Haddon-Cave said the abolition of the duty on furnace oil would

reduce revenue by 343 million.

This compared with 316.2 million in 1972-73 when duties on a wide range

of hydrocarbon oils were abolished.

As a result of the abolition of the duty on fuel oil, the saving in

electricity bills would vary as follows:

In the case of Hong Kong Electric, from $1 in the case of a small domestic consumer using 120 units at a monthly bill of 321 (4.8 per cent) to $3,800 in the case of a bulk consumer using 500,000 units at a monthly bill of 343,500 (8.7 per cent).

In the case of China Light and Power, from #1 in the case of a small domestic consumer using 120 units at a monthly bill of $20 (5 per cent) to $40,000 in the case of bulk consumer using 5,000,000 units at a monthly bill of $288,000 (13.9 per cent).

* Finally, in the case of the Gas Company, as its

tariff does not include a fuel variation clause, increases in the cost of fuel oil over the past year have been fully absorbed by the company.

"It is, therefore, not envisaged that any reduction in the charge to

consumers will arise as a result of the abolition of fuel oil duty," the

Financial Secretary said.

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