As Hong Kongers suffer through the world’s least affordable property market, their government is enjoying the flip-side of the real-estate and stock-market boom: One of the biggest fiscal surpluses anywhere.
When the territory’s budget is unveiled this Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Financial Secretary Paul Chan may have as much as HK$168 billion ($21.5 billion) left over from the 2017-2018 fiscal year to play with, according to an estimate by accountancy firm PwC. That’s 10 times the original government forecast of HK$16.3 billion, thanks to higher than expected revenue from land sales, profits tax and stamp duty, PwC said.
