HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will carefully consider all the views before finalizing the upcoming financial budget and work to reduce expenditures to tackle budget deficit, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday.

Lee made the remarks after a public consultation exercise for the 2025-26 Budget began on Sunday.

According to a preliminarily estimate, the consolidated budget deficit in the 2024-25 financial year will reach about HK$100 billion ($12.82 billion), which was more than twice the amount given in the original forecast of HK$48.1 billion made in February, Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said earlier this month.

Addressing the media ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lee said the financial secretary will be proactive in formulating responsive measures to address the fiscal issues.

“We will focus on increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and boosting the overall development, so as to enhance economic growth to benefit every industry and increase government revenue,” he said.

The city’s economic growth mainly relied on investment, export and consumption and the government will continue an investment of about HK$90 billion every year to maintain a long-term economic growth, he said.

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Private investment will gradually become active with the country’s support and the results of the SAR government’s measures, he added.

Highlighting a change in the city’s consumption pattern, the CE expressed his hope for the tourism industry after the resumption of the multiple entry policy for Shenzhen residents.

“We have seen a rise in the number of visitors and business performance has improved. We have also witnessed a strong growth in the figure of travelers from Southeast Asia,” he said, urging various sectors to make use of online shopping platforms to attract more customers.

Despite external headwinds, Hong Kong registered a steady development with a 2.6 percent GDP growth for the first three quarters, he added.

“The financial secretary will draw up a budget that will drive the city’s economic growth and benefit all Hong Kong industries as a whole.”

Collaboration with Macao

Asked about potential collaboration with the new term of the Macao SAR government, the CE reiterated that both SARs had long maintained a close tie and should work together to leverage on the advantages presented by the motherland to bring economic benefits to both places.

He also added he will attend the inauguration ceremony of the new term of the Macao SAR government and congratulate incoming CE Sam Hou-fai.

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New Year’s Eve arrangements

Regarding the celebrations for the New Year’s Eve, the CE said he believes a number of tourists will be attracted and there will be special arrangements for boundary checkpoints and transportation to ensure visitors will have a pleasant experience.

"The resumption of multiple-entry visits for visitors from Shenzhen is seeing very good returns of tourists from the mainland, particularly from Shenzhen. We can see the rise in figures of tourists, particularly over the weekend, which regularly sees an increase of between 20 and 30 percent," Lee pointed out.

The service hours at the Lo Wu Control Point will be extended to 2 am, while the Shenzhen Bay Port and the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port will operate 24 hours, he said, adding that the authorities will deploy more manpower to ensure all the arrangements will operate in a smooth and orderly manner.

Most of the MTR routes will also operate around the clock for the New Year’s Eve. If visitors could not meet the 2 am closing time in Lo Wu, the authorities have arranged special transportation between Sheung Shui and San Tin for their use of the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port.

Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki convened an interdepartmental meeting last Thursday to take care of all the transportation and boundary-crossing point arrangements, he said.

The authorities had also been liaising with different sectors to ensure the smooth handling of all aspects of welcoming tourists, including crowd management, Lee added.

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On the implementation of a smart voting arrangement, he said that the government will consider different opinions and make sure the whole voting process will be conducted smoothly.