假如我是財政司司長(激進版)

TL;DR: Hong Kong's 2025-2026 fiscal reform plan aims to tackle structural deficits through aggressive spending cuts and systemic innovations. By streamlining public services, embracing digital government, and realigning fiscal policies, the city seeks to curb excessive expenditure while enhancing efficiency. These reforms, although challenging, are crucial for sustainable financial health and long-term economic growth.

Introduction

As the financial hub of Asia, Hong Kong is facing significant fiscal challenges, characterized by a widening structural deficit. The primary cause? Public spending outpacing economic growth, combined with a heavy reliance on unstable revenue sources like land sales and financial services. To avert a fiscal crisis in the next decade, a radical overhaul of Hong Kong's budgetary framework is essential.

Addressing the Structural Deficit

The crux of Hong Kong's fiscal woes lies in escalating public expenditures, with healthcare, welfare, and public servant salaries accounting for 65% of the total budget. Without flexibility in these areas, the city's financial reserves could be depleted in ten years. Moreover, inefficiencies such as overlapping departmental functions and chronic infrastructure overspending exacerbate the problem.

Bold Strategies for Fiscal Reforms

Public Services Restructuring

1. Department Consolidation:

• Reduce the current 13 policy bureaux to 8, merging similar functions to improve efficiency. For instance, integrating the "Home and Youth Affairs Bureau" with the "Labour and Welfare Bureau" into a "Social Development Bureau."
• Implement a 10% reduction in civil service positions through AI-driven administrative solutions, saving approximately HKD 5 billion.

1. Pension Reform:

• Transition new public servants to a provident fund system, eliminating long-term fiscal burdens associated with traditional pensions.
• Cap current pensions at 70% of salary, offering excess amounts as a one-time subsidy.

Marketization and User Fees

1. Healthcare System Overhaul:

• Introduce tiered charges for non-emergency cases in public emergency rooms based on income levels, reducing expenses by HKD 2 billion annually.
• Expand public-private partnerships, managing 30% of public hospital beds under "government-subsidized, privately-managed" models to cut operational costs.

1. Transportation and Welfare Adjustments:

• Replace universal transport subsidies with targeted travel vouchers for households earning below HKD 18,000 monthly, saving HKD 3.5 billion.
• Tighten asset tests for elderly welfare, reducing allowances for those owning property valued over HKD 8 million.

Infrastructure Investment Discipline

1. Cost Control Legislation:

• Enact laws to cap major project expenditures, triggering independent audits for any budget overrun exceeding 10%.
• Halt non-strategic projects like the "Lantau Tomorrow Vision" reclamation, focusing instead on existing northern metropolis lands to avert HKD 500 billion in long-term liabilities.

Social Welfare and Education Reform

1. Welfare Tied to Contribution:

• Require social assistance recipients of over five years to engage in community service or face proportional benefit reductions.

1. Education Resource Optimization:

• Merge under-enrolled schools, repurposing facilities for youth entrepreneurial spaces or elderly care.
• Freeze university funding, shifting to a "self-financing + government loans" model to encourage higher education marketization.

Digital Government and Cost Compression

1. E-Government Implementation:

• Phase out paper applications within three years, enabling citizens to access 90% of government services via smart platforms, cutting 30% of administrative roles.

1. Shared Logistics Services:

• Establish a "Government Logistics Center" to centralize departmental finance, procurement, and IT support, reducing redundant system expenditures.

Tax Adjustments During Emergencies

1. Deficit Surcharge:

• Impose a 1% "Fiscal Balance Surcharge" on corporate tax rates for three years dedicated to debt repayment, generating an additional HKD 8 billion annually.

Risk Mitigation and Support Measures

1. Social Safety Net Enhancement:

• Create a HKD 5 billion "Grassroots Employment Guarantee Fund" to support retraining and entrepreneurial opportunities for public servants affected by reforms.

1. Transparent Reform Progress:

• Publish monthly "Savings Dashboard" updates to track departmental spending cuts and public complaints, ensuring accountability and transparency.

1. Exemption from Judicial Review:

• Seek legislative authorization for the "Fiscal Emergency Ordinance" to prevent judicial delays in implementing major reforms.

Conclusion: A Bold Leap Toward Fiscal Rejuvenation

This comprehensive reform plan shuns incremental fixes, targeting the core issues of fiscal discipline loosening, rigid spending, and resource misallocation. By rigorously reforming the civil service, welfare systems, and infrastructure investments, Hong Kong aims to escape the "high expenditure, low growth" trap. Although painful, these sweeping changes are crucial to preserve fiscal room and development prospects for future generations. Let's embark on this journey for a sustainable fiscal future, ready to embrace the challenges ahead.