The Government announced today (July 31) its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2018.

     Expenditure for the period April to June 2018 amounted to HK$128.2 billion and revenue HK$103.8 billion, resulting in a cumulative year-to-date deficit of HK$24.4 billion.

     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 fiscal reserves stood at HK$1,078.5 billion as at June 30, 2018.

     More detailed figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT (Note 1)
 

Government Debts as at June 30, 2018 (Note 3)
    HK$1,500 million
Debts Guaranteed by Government as at June 30, 2018 (Note 4)
    HK$24,535.1 million

TABLE 2. FISCAL RESERVES
 

Notes:

1. This Account consolidates the General Revenue Account and the following eight Funds: Capital Works Reserve Fund, Capital Investment Fund, Civil Service Pension Reserve Fund, Disaster Relief Fund, Innovation and Technology Fund, Land Fund, Loan Fund and Lotteries Fund. It excludes the Bond Fund, the balance of which is not part of the fiscal reserves. The Bond Fund balance as at June 30, 2018, was HK$144,210 million.

2. Includes transactions with the Exchange Fund and resident banks.

3. These were the outstanding institutional notes as at June 30, 2018, which were denominated in Hong Kong dollars with maturity in July 2019. They do not include the outstanding bonds with nominal value of HK$104,652 million and alternative bonds with nominal value of US$3,000 million (equivalent to HK$23,540 million as at June 30, 2018) issued under the Government Bond Programme (with proceeds credited to the Bond Fund). Of these bonds under the Government Bond Programme (including Silver Bonds with nominal value of HK$5,852 million, which may be redeemed before maturity upon request from bond holders), bonds with nominal value of HK$33,200 million will mature within the period from July 2018 to June 2019 and the rest within the period from July 2019 to March 2032.

4. Includes guarantees provided under the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2001, the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme launched in 2008, the Special Concessionary Measures under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme launched in 2012, and a commercial loan of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation.

5. Includes HK$219,730 million being the balance of the Land Fund held in the name of "Future Fund" as from January 1, 2016, for long-term investments initially up to December 31, 2025. As from July 1, 2016, the Future Fund also includes HK$4,800 million, being one-third of the actual surplus in 2015-16 as top-up.

     A Government spokesman said today (July 31) that the Chief Executive (CE), politically appointed officials and Members of the Executive Council (ExCo) have updated their annual declarations of interests, and the updated declarations are available on government websites for public inspection.
 
     The updated declaration of interests of the Chief Executive has been uploaded to the website of the Chief Executive's Office (www.ceo.gov.hk/eng/links.html). The declarations of interests of politically appointed officials, made in accordance with the Code for Officials under the Political Appointment System (PAO Code), have also been updated and uploaded to the websites of the respective offices or bureaux.

     Information on the registrable interests of ExCo Members (including the President as well as ex-officio and non-official ExCo Members) has also been uploaded to the ExCo website after updating (www.ceo.gov.hk/exco/eng/interests.html). 

     The PAO Code stipulates that politically appointed officials shall declare their investments and interests on appointment and annually thereafter, and these declarations are required to be uploaded to the websites of the respective offices or bureaux. The CE voluntarily observes the above declaration arrangement. ExCo Members are likewise required to declare their registrable interests on appointment and annually thereafter, and these declarations are to be uploaded to the ExCo website. 

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

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     Hong Kong Monetary Authority tenders to be held in the week beginning August 6, 2018:
 

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, July 31, 2018 is 103.9 (down 0.1 against yesterday's index).

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (July 31) released the findings of its food safety report for last month. The results of about 14 100 food samples tested were satisfactory except for 18 samples. The overall satisfactory rate was 99.9 per cent.
 
     A CFS spokesman said about 1 700 food samples were collected for microbiological tests, some 4 200 samples were taken for chemical tests and the remaining 8 200 (including about 7 500 taken from food imported from Japan) were collected to test radiation levels.
 
    The microbiological tests covered pathogens and hygienic indicators, while the chemical tests included pesticides, preservatives, metallic contaminants, colouring matters, veterinary drug residues and others.
 
     The samples comprised about 3 900 samples of vegetables and fruit and their products; 600 samples of meat and poultry and their products; 1 800 samples of aquatic and related products; 1 200 samples of milk, milk products and frozen confections; 1 000 samples of cereals, grains and their products; and 5 600 samples of other food commodities (including beverages, bakery products and snacks).
 
     The 18 unsatisfactory samples comprised seven vegetable samples detected with pesticide residues exceeding the legal limits; a vegetable sample and two dried mushroom samples detected with excessive cadmium; two anchovy fillet samples detected with histamine; a chilled goose sample and a frozen tiger prawn sample detected with veterinary drug residues; a fresh beef sample found to contain sulphur dioxide; a honey sample found to contain a trace amount of an antibiotic; a packed milk drink sample found to contain excessive Bacillus cereus; and a fried pad thai noodle sample found to contain excessive coagulase-positive staphylococci organisms.
 
     The CFS has taken follow-up action on the unsatisfactory samples, including informing the vendors concerned of the test results, instructing them to stop selling the affected food items and tracing the sources of the food items in question.
 
     Since the Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation (Cap 132CM) came into effect on August 1, 2014, as of June 30 this year, the CFS has taken over 147 400 food samples at the import, wholesale and retail levels for testing for pesticide residues. The overall unsatisfactory rate is less than 0.2 per cent.
 
     The spokesman added that excessive pesticide residues in food may arise from the trade not observing Good Agricultural Practice, e.g. using excessive pesticides and/or not allowing sufficient time for pesticides to decompose before harvesting. The maximum residue limits (MRLs) of pesticide residues in food set in the Regulation are not safety indicators. They are the maximum concentrations of pesticide residues to be permitted in a food commodity under Good Agricultural Practice when applying pesticides. In this connection, consumption of food with pesticide residues higher than the MRLs will not necessarily lead to any adverse health effects.
 
     Histamine is commonly found in certain kinds of fish such as tuna, sardine, mackerel and anchovy, as a result of bacterial spoilage. Consumption of fish containing high levels of histamine can cause food-borne intoxication. Symptoms of histamine poisoning include tingling and burning sensation around the mouth, facial flushing and sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache, palpitations, dizziness and rash. The onset of intoxication symptoms is within a few hours after consumption and these symptoms will normally disappear in 12 hours without long-term effect.
       
     The spokesman reminded the food trade to ensure that food for sale is fit for human consumption and meets legal requirements. Consumers should patronise reliable shops when buying food and maintain a balanced diet to minimise food risks.