Fiscal reserves feared to dry up in 20 years

Blame it on the graying population.

Barclays said in its report that according to the SCMP, next months’ Budget Speech (26 February 2014) is likely to warn that Hong Kong’s HK$734bn fiscal reserves may run dry in about 20 years time if nothing is done to ease the financial problems caused by Hong Kong’s ageing population. 

The SCMP quoted an unnamed government source as saying “The future structural deficit can only be postpone, but can hardly be reversed...It’s time to get ready for the discussion”.

This follows on from the Financial Secretary’s earlier warning in his blog that revenue from taxes must rise if Hong Kong is to cope with the rising expenditure from an ageing population.