Chan Mo-po: This year's government accounts will have a surplus, and adjustments to civil servant salaries must be handled with caution

The Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, stated in a radio program that the government's operating accounts will have a surplus this year, but there will still be deficits in non-operating accounts in the coming years. He added that the government has been strictly controlling expenditures in recent years, and the saying "gaining weight is easy, losing weight is hard" applies here. There must be fiscal discipline, persistence in controlling expenditure growth, and maintaining a certain fiscal surplus for emergencies.

He mentioned that Hong Kong's economy is currently undergoing transformation while also taking into account the retail and catering industries. He believes that as long as the economy continues to improve and the financial market remains prosperous, it will drive other consumption. The government has also launched various plans in the past to assist the retail and catering industries in upgrading and transforming, taking multiple approaches to enhance attractiveness, and further organizing different activities. In the future, they will consider whether to extend the duration of these activities and have more different locations for events, aiming for an inclusive effect during the economic recovery process.

When asked whether civil servants still need to have their salaries frozen, Chan responded that during the consultation period for the budget, various opinions were received. The business community and employers suggested whether the salary freeze could continue, but some think tanks pointed out that civil servants have had their salaries frozen more than once in recent years. Given that the economy grew well last year, private market wages have generally increased. Additionally, the government has launched resource management plans in recent years to control the growth of civil servants, and the workload of current civil servants is considerable. He suggested that the government reconsider whether it still needs to freeze salaries.

He described the adjustment of civil servant salaries as having a wide-ranging impact, as it not only involves civil servants but also many government-funded institutions, social welfare organizations, and even private market enterprises will reference this, so it must be handled with caution