2015 budget hit for being neither new nor sustainable

It's old wine in an old bottle.

The 2015 budget has been described as old wine in an old bottle in line with what it promised to bring positive surprises to the residents, based on reports by a reputable local newspaper before the budget speech.

According to a research note from UBS, to some extent the middle-income households should be pleased by the much more generous one-off benefits this year,

It's at a total of HK$34bn compared to 2014's HK$20bn, and mainly comprises of a doubling of maximum tax rebates to HK$20k per tax payer from HK$10k in 2014.

Here's more from UBS:

However, these measures, while potentially offering temporary boosts to the economy, are neither new nor sustainable ways for the government to spend its unexpectedly huge surplus.

The budget also contains no new initiatives to address some of the most pressing economic and social issues in HK, in particular the absence of a new growth driver, the frothy property market, rising inequality and poverty.