〈Hong Kong Business, March 2, 2024〉The government anticipates a $48.1b deficit for the fiscal year 2024-25.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the projection, coupled with a decline in fiscal reserves to $685.1b due to a $120b bond issuance, reflects ongoing challenges in Hong Kong's external environment and the gradual recovery of asset markets.

For FY23-24, the government expects the deficit to clock in at $101.6 and fiscal reserves to reach $733.2b by 31 March.

In his Budget speech, Chan noted the continued prioritisation of resources for essential policy areas such as health, social welfare, and education, constituting 59.3% of recurrent expenditure.

〈Asian Post, March 1 , 2024〉The government announced that its 2024-25 Land Sale Programme will include eight residential sites involving 5,690 flats.

One of the residential sites is on Hong Kong Island, and another is in Kowloon. The other six are in the New Territories.

Hong Kong will also see an injection of 1,200 flats from a railway property development project and 2,800 flats from three Urban Renewal Authority projects.

Overall, the 2024-25 land supply will yield around 15,150 units.

〈The Standard, Feb 29 , 2024〉The atmosphere in the UK property market continues to improve as indicated by the latest data from property website Rightmove.

The average asking price for properties during February increased by over 3,000 (HK$29,500) compared to the previous quarter.

And the average asking price for properties listed across the UK this month rose by 0.9 percent compared to January, reaching 3,091.

That represented a 0.1 percent-increase on a yearly basis, reaching 362,839. These figures align with expectations of seasonal growth for February, and this is the first annual rise in prices since August 2023.

〈The Standard, Feb 29 , 2024〉There is little to complain about in the budget if Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po managed to define a clear pathway to balance the books in the foreseeable future.

In this budget, Chan appears to have demonstrated an ability to more than halve a deficit from a revised HK$101.6 billion for the current year to an estimated deficit of HK$48.1 billion for the year 2024/25.

That sounds marvelous, even magical.

The magic is that the city will increase its reliance on borrowings in the form of bonds as it continues to expand a bond market.

〈Asian Post, Feb 27 , 2024〉Analysts are foreseeing a further increase in the housing prices in the northern and north-western parts of the New Territories as it undergoes residential and commercial development through the government’s Northern Metropolis plan.

Prior to the planned development for New Territories, housing prices in the area have already grown 28.6% from 2016 to 2020. It also recorded a price uptick of 45.8% between 2011 and 2015, according to JLL Research.

Analysts attributed these increases to “enhanced infrastructure and amenities;” and with the Northern Metropolis plan in place, they sad property prices in New Territories will likely “be subject to more upward pressure.”