Review public service charges to increase revenues: FS

Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Sunday that it may be time to review public service charges that have not been raised for some time, as well as those that are far from cost recovery.

He made the comment in his weekly blog while discussing ways to increase government revenue amid a deficit.

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The minister said the government needed to enter a period of “expenditure consolidation” after rapid growth in recent years, partly due to Covid spending.

However, Chan said that in raising government revenue, Hong Kong must maintain its advantage of a simple tax system, take into account people’s affordability, maintain the SAR’s competitiveness in global markets and boost business confidence as the economy recovers.

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He also noted that efforts to balance the budget must be gradual, and officials must ensure that the underprivileged continue to have access to basic public services and adequate social security support.

“We need to take into account the actual situation during this process [of achieving a balance], while having ample communication with society to do it together,” Chan wrote.

“We can’t be too slow, but we can’t be too hasty either. We need to carefully assess the affordability of different segments of society and the operating conditions of different industries.”

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