Hong Kong is well placed to further develop international asset management services which are high value-added, and this will strengthen our role as Asia's world city.
Speaking on a radio talk show today, Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Frederick Ma said Switzerland has been a management centre for over 20% of the world assets, while Hong Kong is only 5%.
As the outlook of asset management services is good, it is worth further developing the services.
Securitisation delay will not impact budget
On the plan to securitise revenue from six toll roads, Mr Ma said lawmakers decided yesterday to set up a group to look into the project. This means the estimated $6-billion income cannot be raised by March as scheduled.
Nevertheless, this will not have much impact on our budget as the economy has picked up better than expected.
He also stressed that the project is solely a financial one and will not affect the operation or staff of toll roads.
Government cutting expenses
When asked how to tackle the fiscal deficit, Mr Ma said while the upcoming budget will not bring great changes to the community, the Government will continue cut down expenses to achieve a fiscal balance in 2008-09.
The Government will also strike a careful balance between reducing the budget deficit and safeguarding people's livelihood, to give people more time to recover.
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