Vow to stave off deficits FS pledges not to allow deficits to happen by limiting spending growth

"I WILL not allow deficits to happen," the Financial Secretary said hours after delivering a Budget that warns of structural deficits within seven years. John Tsang Chun-wah (曾俊華) said that it will require the whole government to work on reining in spending growth to 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), preserving revenues and setting up a savings scheme to avoid a deficit. "We can't rely on one single option to resolve all the problems, we have to do all of them," Tsang said. "We need the entire government to do it before we can succeed." In his speech, Tsang said the projection results and analysis of the Working Group on Long-Term Fiscal Planning (長遠財政計劃工作小組) serve as a timely warning of a looming fiscalcliff. The group's full report will be released today (3 March). "If government expenditure keeps growing and outpacing economic and revenue growth, a structural deficit would be inevitable," Tsang said. The task force projected that if services were to be enhanced at about 3 percent annually for education, social welfare and healthcare, on top of adjustments for demographic and price factors, government expenditure would grow at an average of 7.5 percent a year. "In that case, a structural deficit will surface within seven years," he said. He assured the government finances in the medium-term are "in good shape" and the administration can fully finance one-off relief measures. "The Chief Executive knows the content of this Budget speech," Tsang said. "We have discussed it between us so he understands and we do accept the principle of spending within our limit." He called on the civil service to do its part. "We have to prevent revenue loss, we have to make adjustments to fees and charges, we have to make sure the economy is growing, make sure expenditures will grow within a particular range," Tsang said. A "Future Fund" combining the Land Fund and a portion of future surpluses could be set up to kick-start some infrastructure projects, he said. (The Standard, Mary Ann Benitez and Eddie Luk, 27 February, 2014) 1. deficit (n) 赤字 2. gross domestic product (n phr) 國內生產總值 3. option (n) 選擇 4. projection (n) 預測 5. fiscal cliff (n phr) 財政懸崖 6. outpace (v) 超過