Thursday, March 14, 1974
PRESSURE FOR PRICE CONTROLS ON BASIC COMMODITIES HOTS UP
Unofficials Demand Action Now
Unofficial members of the Legislative Council today continued
their campaign for urgent measures to curb spiralling inflation and
again united in calling on the government to tackle the problem now.
Leading the anti-inflation drive at today's resumed Budget
debate was the Hon. Ann Tse-kai who emphasised that means must be devised
to check and curb rising prices of essential commodities at retail level
and that "the government should endeavour by visible action to see that
supplies of essentials are assured at reasonably stabilized prices."
At the same time, Mr. Ann said, the government should also
"make up a list of essentials and take a piercing look to find out
whether there are other internally induced inflationary factors that
are working and if anything can be done to arrest them without prejudicing
our basic policies."
By ascribing inflation in Hong Kong all to outside factors, he
said, the Financial Secretary had missed out the "skyrocketing of our
land prices and consequential rent spiralling" during the fourth quarter
of 1972 and first quarter of 1973.
He recalled that he had pointed out in his speech. in the Council
on March 15 last year that those were the locally induced inflationary factors.
"Its after-effects are still being felt these days, since under
the circumstances there has not been much choice left to the average person,
as landlords can always hold out for better terms while the average tenant
does not move houso like a bird," he said.
Turning to
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.