Civil service numbers to be reduced to around 160,000 by 2007: Tang
Updated at 6.30pm: The government was reducing spending on civil servants' salaries - and planned to reduce civil service numbers to around 160,000 by 2007, Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen revealed on Wednesday.
Mr Tang was replying to a question in the Legislative Council from lawmaker Abraham Shek Lai-him, who represents the real-estate and construction sector.
The high cost of civil service salaries and pensions is a controversial issue in Hong Kong - which has some of the world's most highly-paid civil servants. In recent years, the government has implemented civil service pay cuts to reduce the size of its fiscal deficit.
Mr Shek reminded Legco on Wednesday that from 2000-2004 civil service pay accounted for over 34 per cent of the government's operating expenditure. Pension payments for civil servants had cost about $13 billion in 2004.
The legislator asked the government how it was progressing in reducing the high cost of civil service pay. He also asked whether the government had any plans to review the pension system of civil servants.
In reply, Mr Tang cited latest statistics to show the government had already slashed staff-related spending on the civil service.
'In 2005-06, the estimated staff-related expenditure on the civil service was about $65.3 billion [or 31 per cent of the government's annual operating expenditure], down from $71.3 billion [or 36 per cent of the government's operating expenditure] in 2001-02,'' he said.