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As a further step towards meeting the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (IMF SDDS), the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, from now on, will release a monthly summary of its financial results.
Details in respect of the financial results for the six months ended September 30, 1998 is set out below:
Expenditure for the year to date amounts to $115,202 million and revenue to $72,601.3 million, resulting in a deficit for the first six months of the financial year of $42,600.7 million. In addition, the net worth of the Land Fund has increased by $2,973.4 million since April 1, 1998.
As a result, the fiscal reserves stood at $417,915.7 million at September 30, 1998, a decrease of $39,627.3 million compared with the level at March 31, 1998, the end of the previous financial year.
Because the government's accounts are prepared on a cash basis and since the bulk of the collections from Profits Tax and Salaries Tax are normally received in the second half of the financial year (roughly 90% of Profits Tax and 80% of Salaries Tax), it is not unusual, even in good years, to see a substantial deficit in the first half of the financial year.
More detailed figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2 -
TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT
Year to date
Month Ended (April 1, 1998 to
Sept 30, 1998 Sept 30, 1998)
------------- --------------
HK $ million HK $ million
Revenue 6,062.8 72,601.3
Expenditure (16,837.9) (115,202.0)
_________ __________
Deficit (10,775.1) (42,600.7)
Financing
Domestic
Banking Sector
(Note 1) 10,765.7 42,393.3
Non-Bank Sector 9.4 207.4
External - -
-------- --------
Total 10,775.1 42,600.7
======== ========
Government Debt at
September 30, 1998
(Note 2) NIL NIL
Debts Guaranteed by
Government at
Sept 30, 1998
(Note 3) 57.8 57.8
Note
1 : Includes transactions with the Exchange Fund
and resident banks.
2 : The Government is debt free.
3 : Guarantees provided under the Special Finance
Scheme for Small and Medium Enterprises.
TABLE 2. FISCAL RESERVES
Year to date
Month Ended (April 1, 1998 to
Sept 30, 1998 Sept 30, 1998)
------------- -----------------
HK $ million HK $ million
Fiscal Reserves
at start of period 422,412.8 457,543.0
Add :
Consolidated
Deficit (10,775.1) (42,600.7)
Change in net worth
of the Land Fund 6,278.0 2,973.4
--------- ---------
Fiscal Reserves
at end of period 417,915.7 417,915.7
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For the remaining months of the 1998-99 financial year, the release calendar in accordance with the IMF SDDS is detailed below:
Month Release Date
----- ------------
October 1998 November 30, 1998
November 1998 December 31, 1998
December 1998 January 30, 1999
January 1999 February 27, 1999
February 1999 March 31, 1999
March 1999 (provisional) April 30, 1999
As in previous years, the government will continue to publish more comprehensive details of its financial performance in the Government Gazette on a quarterly basis.
In addition to its release to the media, this information will also be published on the Treasury's website (http://www.info.gov.hk/tsy/).
End/Saturday, October 31, 1998
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