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Remarks by Executive Council member

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Following is the transcript of the remarks by the Executive Council members, Mr Leung Chun-ying,on the 2003 Budget at the Legislative Council this afternoon (March 5):

Reporter:Mr Leung, there is concern that increasing taxes will put too much pressure on the public and there is also concern that the economy will contract further if there are too many measures to raise taxes. Are you concerned about that?

Mr Leung:The proposals are very very mild. I am sure that the proposals are affordable by the public at large, including the business sector in HK. We are taking gradual increments to achieve the ultimate target of balancing our budget in a few years time.

Reporter:Can you elaborate a little bit why the ExCo members are supporting the budget?

Mr Leung:We are supporting the budget and recommending to the public through the media to support it. Firstly, the proposals are very mild and the proposals take a balanced approach to achieve fiscal balance through increasing revenue of the Government and reducing certain expenditure. The key thing, that is something which I want to highlight through the media for the attention of the general public and the international community who take an interest in HK's economy and Government finance, this is the fact that we need to revitalise our economy through various measures that the Financial Secretary has announced in his Budget speech. It is extremely important not to look just at the proposed expenditure and revenue, but also to look at the measures which the Financial Secretary has detailed in his Budget speech of revitalising HK's economy.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

End/Wednesday, March 5, 2003

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