HA endorses Corporate Plan and Proposed Budget for 2023/24
**********************************************************
At the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) meeting today (January 16), the HA endorsed the Corporate Plan for 2023/24, the 2022/23 Revised Budget and the 2023/24 Proposed Budget, and also noted the 2024/25 to 2026/27 Financial Forecasts.
In 2023/24, the HA will continue to focus its efforts on providing quality homes, promoting sustainable living, optimising and rationalising the use of public resources and enhancing the attractiveness of its commercial properties. Based on these four themes, a total of 35 key activities and 18 key performance indicators have been drawn up for the 2023-24 Corporate Plan.
"The Corporate Plan is the platform through which the HA directs its work and focuses its efforts to address the challenges of public housing. In his 2022 Policy Address, the Chief Executive (CE) had set forth some key strategies and targets to increase the public housing supply and solve the housing problem in Hong Kong. Relevant initiatives have been suitably reflected in the 2023/24 Corporate Plan," a spokesman for the HA said.
"In 2023/24, we will continue to work in full steam to develop both public rental housing (PRH) units and subsidised sale flats with a view to increasing the supply of public housing units. On the development and construction of public housing, we will accelerate housing production by adopting the Modular Integrated Construction approach (MiC) and 'Design-and-Build' procurement model more widely. With a view to enhancing the sense of well-being among residents, we will develop 'well-being' design guidelines for new public housing projects and apply the same concept to existing estates. On estate management, we will continue to enhance safety, environmental hygiene, greening and landscape, as well as community bonding in PRH estates," the spokesman added.
Under the latest budgets and financial forecasts, it is projected that the HA will have the necessary financial resources to meet its recurrent expenditure and take forward its public housing construction programme and maintenance works up to 2026/27. For the budget and forecast period from 2022/23 to 2026/27, the HA's cash and investment balance is projected to decrease from around $58.9 billion at the beginning of April 2022 to around $49.7 billion by the end of March 2027. It is also expected that the construction expenditure and the operating expenditure will continue to increase over the period, in particular the construction expenditure to meet the public housing supply targets.
"The construction expenditure for public housing development is the largest expenditure item of the HA. The latest budgets and financial forecasts mainly reflect the financial commitments of the planned housing production of around 94 000 flats for the period from 2022/23 to 2026/27. Looking forward, in order to achieve the public housing supply target in the coming 10 years, it is envisaged that the HA's construction expenditure for the subsequent five years will be more than double that of the five-year period up to 2026/27. The HA will remain vigilant in exercising prudent financial control, and the expenditure estimates will be assessed and reviewed in the future annual rolling five-year budgeting exercises," the spokesman said.
The Government has earmarked $82.4 billion in the fiscal reserves for the development of public housing and related infrastructure to demonstrate the Government's commitment in this regard. The HA will continue to closely monitor its funding position.
The HA's 2023/24 Corporate Plan and the budgets will be submitted to the CE for approval. The Financial Forecasts will also be made available to the CE for his information.
Ends/Monday, January 16, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:00
Issued at HKT 16:00
NNNN