HONG KONG: Hong Kong is facing “tsunami-like” shocks, and may incur a record budget deficit in the next fiscal year as the city counts the costs of the coronavirus outbreak after months of social unrest, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said.
“In addition to launching counter-cyclical relief measures to support the economy, the government’s recurrent expenditure in the past 10 years has continued to increase significantly, and the weakening economy has significantly reduced government revenue from tax and land,” Chan wrote, elaborating on the deficit.Economists are revising down their forecasts for Hong Kong’s economic growth in 2020, with the virus worsening the current recession which was a fallout from the city’s political crisis.