TNAG-2261-FCO40-3257-Hong-Kong-Port-and-Airport-Development-Strategy-(PADS)-pres-1991 — Page 37

One is the Airport Railway and the other one is that part of the Central and Western Reclamation which links up with the Airport Core Programme. We are in the process of updating these from our 1990 values and estimating the cost of these other two elements. can't give you a final figure yet.

Question 13: When will that be available then?

Answer: Mr Yeung:

So I

It will be available when we

go

to Finance

Committee in the middle of this month.

Question 14: (Asked in Chinese and reply repeated in English)

Mr Yeung: The question was: Because of the delay in commencement, isn't the figure of 79 billion likely to be substantially higher because of inflation and delay?

My answer to that, first, was that there hasn't been substantial delay because, as Mr Leung said, the slippage in the commencement of the tendering process, not even works, has been about a month or so. Originally, we said we were going to call for tenders for the Tsing-Ma Bridge at the end of June, beginning of July. Now we are calling for tenders round about the end

round about the end of July, early August. The slippage has not been serious.

Secondly, I mention that as chairman of the Central Tender Board I see all sorts of tenders, including works tenders, every week. And the increase in tender prices between 1990 and 1991 has not been substantial or significant.

Question 15; (asked in Chinese reply repeated in English)

Mr Yeung:

The question was: What is the relationship between the ACPS now as they exist and what implications has this got for government spending? And the second was: Do we have to raise taxes or radically change our fiscal system?

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The answer to the first question is let's not forget that the airport core programme, or our share of the airport core programme, accounts for only 24 per cent of the value of the public works programme. To the extent that we are proceeding with it, yes, I envisage that in future that capital spending by the government will be higher than in the past. Perhaps significantly higher. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we will breach our budgetary guidelines - which is, basically, that the trend growth rate of planned spending mustn't exceed the trend growth-rate of GDP.

The answer to the second question is that our fiscal policies the budget is made up every year. Now, we mustn't forget that we will be starting the ACP with fiscal reserves worth some 76 billion dollars at the end of March this year. So our opening balance is 76 billion dollars. On the basis of that, I think we can afford the ACP without having radically to alter our tax system.

Question 16: Could I ask when the first batch of Chinese workers will be required, and how many these will be?

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