HK in 49-billion-HK-Dollar-Deficit by the End of AugustHong Kong government announced Saturday its deficit by the end of August was 49 billion HK dollars -- a normal level.According to the financial results for the five months ended August 31, 2001 released by Hong Kong government, the expenditure for the period April to August 2001 amounted to 96 billion HK dollars and revenue to 47 billion HK dollars, resulting in a deficit of 49 billion HK dollars. A government spokesman said that a deficit in the initial months of a financial year was not unusual as many major types of revenue including taxes were mostly received towards the end of a financial year. The fiscal reserves stood at 381.3 billion HK dollars at August 31, 2001. |
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