Hong Kong recorded a deficit of 63.3 billion HK dollars (US$8.1 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002, according to the provisional financial results announced by the Hong Kong government Tuesday.
Expenditure during the year amounted to 238.9 billion HK dollars while revenue totaled 175.6 billion HK dollars.
The fiscal reserves stood at 372.5 billion HK dollars on March 31, 2002, a decrease of 57.8 billion HK dollars compared with the balance of 430.3 billion HK dollars on March 31, 2001.
This decrease was a result of the deficit, partly offset by a write-back amounting to 5.5 billion HK dollars of the provision made in the previous fiscal year for the fall in the market value of the government's investments with the Exchange Fund during the period from January 1, 2001 to March 31, 2001.
A government spokesman said that the deficit of 63.3 billion HK dollars was very close to the revised deficit of 65.6 billion HK dollars announced in the Financial Secretary's 2002-03 Budget Speech.
The spokesman added that all figures were provisional pending the final closing of the annual accounts, but that experience showed that any changes to the provisional figures were unlikely to be significant.
(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2002)
