The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government must adopt appropriate and effective measures to strike a financial balance in the mid term, a Hong Kong official said in Hong Kong Wednesday.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma told the Legislative Council that Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen had announced earlier that the administration is determined to control government operating expenditure and reduce it by 11 percent to 200 billion HK dollars (U$25.6 billion) by 2008 to 2009, restore fiscal balance by 2008 to 2009, and keep public expenditure to 20 percent of its GDP or below.

Ma pointed out that these are realistic objectives as they have taken into account the social expectations from different walks of life in Hong Kong.

He pointed out that the financial secretary, before bringing forward his budget bill on March 10 for the 2004-2005 financial year, had elicited opinions and suggestions from various sectors in Hong Kong.

Ma noted that the government and the community had reached a consensus to control public expenditure before thinking of measures to increase the income.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2004)