XN000022-1992-02-26 — Page 26

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1992

BE

MAY

A SANITISATION PERIOD FROM THE CESSATION OF ACTIVE SERVICE

THIS IS CONSIDERED APPLIED ΤΟ

OFFICERS, DIRECTORATE APPROPRIATE.

WHERE

"BUT IT SHOULD BE BORNE IN MIND THAT FORMER CIVIL SERVANTS WITH TO THE SUBSTANTIAL WORKING EXPERIENCE CAN BE OF CONSIDERABLE VALUE

EMPLOYMENT COMMUNITY AND THE WORKFORCE AS A WHOLE AND THEIR CONTINUED IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR SHOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED," MR WIGGHAM ADDED.

HK GINI COEFFICIENT NOT HIGH BY INT'L STANDARD

THE THE GOVERNMENT BELIEVES THAT IT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF

CONTINUES TO COMMUNITY IF THE GOVERNMENT

TO ADOPT POLICIES THAT FACILITATE ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENCOURAGE INITIATIVE AND ENTERPRISE, SPECIFIC PROGRAMMES ENSURE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL COUPLED WITH TO SUPPORT THE LOWER INCOME GROUPS.

LAM, THE

CONRAD IN REPLY TO A WRITTEN QUESTION BY DR THE HON SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES, MRS ANSON CHAN, SAID ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF THE LATEST POPULATION CENSUS, THE GINI COEFFICIENT BASED ON IT WAS HOUSEHOLD INCOME WAS ESTIMATED AT AROUND 0.476 LAST YEAR, AND NOT PARTICULARLY HIGH BY INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS.

DISTRIBUTION

THE GINI COEFFICIENT, AS A SUMMARY MEASURE OF THE OF INCOME, COULD IN THEORY RANGE FROM ZERO TO ONE, WITH A HIGHER VALUE REFLECTING GREATER INCOME DIVERSITY.

THAT THOSE OF

MRS CHAN POINTED OUT THAT INFORMATION AVAILABLE SUGGESTED GINI COEFFICIENT OF 0.48 1N HONG KONG WAS BROADLY COMPARABLE TO OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND SINGAPORE, AND NOT TOO MUCH ABOVE THOSE THE UNITED STATES AND AUSTRALIA.

"A DEGREE OF INCOME DIVERSITY IS COMMON EVEN IN THE MOST ECONOMICALLY ADVANCED COUNTRIES," SHE ADDED.

MRS CHAN SAID WHILE THERE HAD BEEN AN INCREASE IN THE GINI COEFFICIENT FOR HONG KONG OVER THE YEARS, OF GREATER SIGNIFICANCE WAS THE FACT THAT MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME HAD RISEN BY 56 PER CENT IN REAL TERMS OVER THE PAST DECADE.

"MOREOVER, SUBSTANTIAL INCOME GROWTH IS RECORDED FOR ALL INCOME GROUPS, INCLUDING THE LOWER INCOME GROUP.

"IN GENERAL, THE COMMUNITY IS SHARING IN THE FRUITS OF HONG KONG'S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PROSPERITY," SHE SAID.

THEIR DEVELOP

MRS CHAN SAID THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICIES

PROGRAMMES WERE

WHICH FOSTERING AN ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT IN

PEOPLE DIRECTED TOWARDS

TO TALENTS AND POTENTIAL. COULD

THE MAXIMUM EXTENT

POSSIBLE.

AND

"THERE ARE MANY

OPPORTUNITIES

FOR PERSONAL ADVANCEMENT AND HIGHER INCOME IRRESPECTIVE OF THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF INDIVIDUALS.

/"INDEED, THIS