ENG-1957 — Page 86

Chapter 4: Public Finance and Taxation

Revenue and Expenditure figures since 1st April, 1954, are

as follows:

1954-5

1955-6

1956-7

Revenue

Expenditure Surplus $

$

$

434,452,321 373,343,609 61,108,712 454,720,189 402,463,642 52,256,547 509,682,511 469,544,298 40,138,213

Deficit

1957-8 (Estimated) 507,489,000 561,157,280 53,668,280 On 31st March, 1957, the General Revenue Balance and the Revenue Equalization Fund stood at $358,162,240 and $137,714,761 respectively. A statement showing the assets and liabilities of the Colony at that date is at Appendix III. - Revenue for 1956-7 was remarkably buoyant, exceeding the estimate by $59,745,431. The largest excess was that of $15,924,637 under Revenue Head 3, Internal Revenue, and was mainly due to the token figure under subhead 6, Estate Duty, being exceeded by $19,398,690. The next largest excess was under Head 1, Duties, with a surplus of $13,799,299, of which Import Duty on Tobacco ($4,774,038), Import Duty on Hydrocarbon Oils ($4,477,764) and Import Duty on Liquor ($1,793,573) provided the major share. Head 2, Rates, showed an overall increase of $6,156,452 on the estimate, with excesses of $4,534,068 and $1,628,516 for Kowloon and Hong Kong respectively. An excess of $5,266,253 was registered under Head 9, Revenue from Lands, Rents, etc.; there was a surplus of $4,474,201 under the sub-head Interest, derived from sterling investments, fixed deposits and current accounts. Under Head 11, Land Sales, there was an increase of $5,972,948 for Hong Kong Island, offset by decreases under other sub-heads, resulting in a net increase