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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Chairman of the Finance Committee (FC) of the Housing Authority (HA), Mr. Wong Yuen-fai, said that the HA is committed to the policy objectives of maintaining the average waiting time for public rental housing applicants at about 3 years and improving its housing estates with a view to enhancing the quality of living of its tenants, notwithstanding the economic slowdown.
¡§To meet this target, in the five years between 2008/09 and 2012/13, the HA plans to incur construction expenditure of $8.6 billion per year on average to produce adequate public rental housing flats, representing an annual production of about 15,000 flats on average,¡¨ Mr. Wong said today (January 6) after the FC meeting.
The FC today endorsed the 2008/09 revised budget, the 2009/10 proposed budget and noted the financial forecasts for 2010/11 to 2012/13.
With a projected funds balance of $46.7 billion in 2013, the HA will have sufficient financial resources to implement its public housing programme in the forecast period.
Because of adjustment of the financial market, the HA¡¦s overall consolidated result is expected to register a loss of about $220 million in 2008/09. The HA has been able to mitigate the risks largely because of the conservative and diversified investment strategy. Assuming that the financial market will stabilize, it is forecast that the HA¡¦s overall consolidated result will return to surplus in the coming years.
The HA will ensure cost effective use of its resources in meeting its policy objectives.
The budget will be submitted to the HA on January 22 for approval.
Ends/Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Issued at HKT 13:18
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