'Balanced Budget' Fails To Satisfy Key Govt Allies

The budget evoked criticism from some key allies of the government on Wednesday, while an adviser to the Carrie Lam administration hailed the financial secretary for presenting a "balanced" financial blueprint for the coming year.

Executive councillor CK Chow praised the budget as being “balanced”, saying it was important that the government did not cut down its spending despite the uncertain economic outlook.

Chow said Chan's spending plan was appropriate, as public money should be spent on the people in times of adversity.

But the pro-establishment New People's Party said the budget is not "creative" enough.

The party said it is also disappointed at the lack of concrete proposals on how Hong Kong can take advantage of the Greater Bay Area initiative.

Referring to the measures announced to help public hospitals, the party's chairwoman, Regina Ip, said as usual the government is responding by simply throwing money at them.

"If hours are too long and not tolerable, doctors and nurses will continue to flee even if you increase the pay and allowances," she said.

The pro-government Federation of Trade Unions was also critical of the budget, saying it was "plain" and devoid of any highlights. FTU lawmaker Alice Mak said the general public will not see any benefit from this budget.

The pro-Beijing DAB party also slammed the budget for not doing enough to improve welfare.

Its chairwoman, Starry Lee, said the extra HK$400 million set aside for the Hospital Authority to buy expensive drugs is not sufficient. While she acknowledged there are initiatives for various core and new industries, Lee said the effectiveness remains to be seen.

The Civic Party, meanwhile, slammed the budget for “lacking in vision”. It said although the financial secretary listed out issues facing Hong Kong’s economy, he offered no solutions to solve them.