A $40.3 billion surplus was recorded in the Government's financial results for December, bringing a net surplus of $30.9 billion up to the end of the month. Spending for the first nine months of the financial year amounted to $205.4 billion, with revenue of $236.3 billion.

The Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau said the surplus was mainly due to salaries and profits tax and investment income on fiscal reserves of $46.4 billion from the Exchange Fund.

However, major one-off expenditures - including injections to the Mandatory Provident Fund accounts and the Research Endowment Fund - were not covered in the December figures.

Despite the larger number of holdover cases, revenue from salaries and profits taxes was better than expected. The revised estimates for the current financial year will be published along with the 2009-10 Budget on February 25.

Fiscal reserves stood at $523.8 billion at the end of December.