Financial results for the nine months ended December 31, 2019

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January 31, 2020 - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced today its financial results for the nine months ended December 31, 2019.

Expenditure for the period from April to December 2019 amounted to HK$412.4 billion (US$52.8 billion) and revenue HK$356.1 billion (US$45.6 billion), resulting in a cumulative year-to-date deficit of HK$50 billion (US$6.4 billion) after receipt of net proceeds of HK$7.8 billion (US$1 billion) from issuance of green bonds under the Government Green Bond Programme (Green Bond) and repayment of institutional notes of HK$1.5 billion (US$192 million).

A government spokesperson said that the cumulative year-to-date deficit for the period was mainly due to the fact that some major types of revenue including salaries and profits taxes are mostly received towards the end of a financial year. The revised estimates for the current financial year will be published along with the 2020-21 Budget on February 26, 2020.

Fiscal reserves stood at HK$1,120.8 billion (US$143.6 billion) as at December 31, 2019.