The Government announced today (January 31) its financial results for the nine months ended December 31, 2022.
 
     There was a surplus of HK$87.1 billion in the month of December. Expenditure for the nine-month period amounted to HK$593.3 billion and revenue HK$390.1 billion, with the cumulative year-to-date deficit at HK$183.2 billion after taking into account the proceeds of HK$20 billion received from issuance of green bonds under the Government Green Bond Programme (Green Bond).
 
     A Government spokesperson said that the cumulative year-to-date deficit for the period was mainly due to the fact that some major types of revenue including salaries and profits taxes are mostly received towards the end of a financial year. The revised estimates for the current financial year will be published along with the 2023-24 Budget.
 
     The fiscal reserves stood at HK$773.9 billion as at December 31, 2022.
 
     Detailed figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
 
TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT (Note 1)
 

	Month ended December 31, 2022 HK$ million	Nine months ended December 31, 2022 HK$ million
Revenue	153,220.2	390,148.6
Expenditure	(66,151.2)	(593,392.0)
Surplus/(Deficit) before issuance of Green Bond	87,069.0	(203,243.4)
Proceeds received from issuance of Green Bond	-	20,000.0
Surplus/(Deficit) after issuance of Green Bond	87,069.0	(183,243.4)
Financing
Domestic
Banking Sector (Note 2)	(87,468.0)	182,732.2
Non-Banking Sector	399.0	511.2
External	-	-
Total	(87,069.0)	183,243.4

 
Government Debts as at December 31, 2022 (Note 3)
    HK$75,410 million
Debts Guaranteed by Government as at December 31, 2022 (Note 4)
    HK$139,589 million

TABLE 2. FISCAL RESERVES
 

	Month ended December 31, 2022 HK$ million	Nine months ended December 31, 2022 HK$ million
Fiscal Reserves at start of period	686,816.0	957,128.4
Consolidated Surplus/(Deficit) after issuance of Green Bond	87,069.0	(183,243.4)
Fiscal Reserves at end of period (Note 5)	773,885.0	773,885.0

 
Notes:

1. This Account consolidates the General Revenue Account and the following eight Funds: Capital Works Reserve Fund, Capital Investment Fund, Civil Service Pension Reserve Fund, Disaster Relief Fund, Innovation and Technology Fund, Land Fund, Loan Fund and Lotteries Fund. It excludes the Bond Fund, the balance of which is not part of the fiscal reserves. The Bond Fund balance as at December 31, 2022, was HK$266,381 million.

2. Includes transactions with the Exchange Fund and resident banks.

3. These were the Green Bonds (equivalent to HK$75,410 million as at December 31, 2022) issued under the Government Green Bond Programme. They were denominated in US dollars (US$4,500 million with maturity from May 2024 to February 2051), euros (1,750 million euros with maturity from November 2026 to November 2041), Renminbi (RMB5,000 million with maturity from November 2024 to November 2026) and Hong Kong dollars (HK$20,000 million with maturity in May 2025). They do not include the outstanding bonds with nominal value of HK$218,594 million and alternative bonds with nominal value of US$1,000 million (equivalent to HK$7,810 million as at December 31, 2022) issued under the Government Bond Programme (with proceeds credited to the Bond Fund). Of these bonds under the Government Bond Programme (including Silver Bonds with nominal value of HK$88,294 million, which may be redeemed before maturity upon request from bond holders), bonds with nominal value of HK$17,800 million were repaid upon maturity on January 17, 2023; bonds with nominal value of HK$38,934 million will mature within the period from February 2023 to December 2023 and the rest within the period from January 2024 to May 2042.

4. Includes guarantees provided under the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2001, the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2008, the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme launched in 2012 and a commercial loan of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.
 
5. Includes HK$270,754 million, being the balance of the Land Fund held in the name of "Future Fund", for long-term investments initially up to December 31, 2025. The Future Fund also includes HK$4,800 million, being one-third of the actual surplus in 2015-16 as top-up.

Ends/Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:30

NNNN