The Government announced today (May 31) its financial results for April 2018, the first month of the current financial year.
Expenditure for the first month amounted to HK$38.4 billion and revenue HK$33.3 billion, resulting in a deficit of HK$5.1 billion.
A government spokesperson said that the deficit in April 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$1,097.9 billion as at April 30, 2018.
More detailed figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT (Note 1)
| Month ended April 30, 2018 HK$ million |
||
| Revenue | 33,325.7 | |
| Expenditure | (38,403.7) | |
| Deficit | (5,078.0) | |
| Financing | ||
| Domestic | ||
| Banking Sector (Note 2) |
3,884.6 | |
| Non-Banking Sector | 1,193.4 | |
| External | – | |
| Total | 5,078.0 | |
Government Debts as at April 30, 2018 (Note 3)
HK$1,500 million
Debts Guaranteed by Government as at April 30, 2018 (Note 4)
HK$25,863.7 million
TABLE 2. FISCAL RESERVES
| Month ended April 30, 2018 HK$ million |
|
| Fiscal Reserves at start of period |
1,102,933.7 |
| Consolidated Deficit | (5,078.0) |
| Fiscal Reserves at end of period (Note 5) |
1,097,855.7 |
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 April 30, 2018 was HK$142,187 million.
2. Includes transactions with the Exchange Fund and resident banks.
3. These were the outstanding institutional notes as at April 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$102,181 million and alternative bonds with nominal value of US$3,000 million (equivalent to HK$23,546 million as at April 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$5,881 million, which may be redeemed before maturity upon request from bond holders), bonds with nominal value of HK$23,200 million will mature within the period from May 2018 to April 2019 and the rest within the period from May 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.
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