HK Budget aims to revive global edge, but faces uphill task

Plans to deepen technology, attract tourist and investment dollars

- Michelle Ng

In a bold move, Hong Kong scrapped all of its decade-old property cooling measures and slashed the usually generous "sweeteners" in its latest Budget, as the city focuses on transforming its economy and reviving its global competitive edge.

Plans to deepen innovation and technology, attract tourist and investment dollars as well as prioritise spending on new sectors are, collectively, a clear pivot from previous years'

Budgets to address Hong Kong's waning competitiveness and narrow the fiscal deficit, say analysts.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan, in his Budget speech on Feb 28, said the short-term goal is to stabilise confidence "so as to resist the impact brought about by the weak market resulting from external factors", referring to the United States' high-interest rates as well as the struggling economy in mainland China.

"In the mid-term, we need to deal with some challenges... our work is to grab enterprises, grab talent and grab capital. That will be our main task. In this respect, we are making progress," he said.

In recent years, critics have argued that Hong Kong has lost its shine. The city has been struggling to reverse an outflow of businesses and residents following massive and often violent protests in 2019, a subsequent roll-out of a national security law by Beijing in 2020 that bans subversion, among other things, and tough Covid-19 restrictions.

Hong Kong's economy has also been affected by the struggling Chinese economy.

Its tourism sector, for instance, which relies on mainland China for about 80 percent of its visitors, has been slow to recover as there have been fewer Chinese visitors.

Despite the fresh effort, some analysts say Hong Kong faces an uphill task in returning to its pre-pandemic glory days.