Hong Kong lawmakers urge authorities to boost overseas confidence in city as they review budget

Legislators also scrutinise costs run up by former leader Carrie Lam amid debate on passage of 2024-25 budget

‘We hope the government can use actual actions and excellent results as its strongest rebuttal to smears of Hong Kong by foreign forces’, one lawmaker says

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The Legislative Council Complex in Admiralty. Photo: Robert Ng

Published: 7:59pm, 24 Apr 2024Updated: 10:10pm, 24 Apr 2024

Lawmakers have urged the government to increase overseas confidence in Hong Kong in response to “smears” from foreign critics, as well as called on authorities to step up explanation for the city’s national security laws.

Legislators also scrutinised costs run up by former city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as they debated passing the 2024-25 budget at the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

Lo Wai-kwok, chairman of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, took the opportunity to call for authorities to stand up to the city’s naysayers to help ensure the its long-term prosperity and stability.

“We hope the government can use actual actions and excellent results as its strongest rebuttal to smears of Hong Kong by foreign forces that say ‘Hong Kong is dead’ or ‘recovery is unlikely’,” he said.

The lawmaker said the government must increase its revenue and reduce expenses as it had recorded a “massive” deficit of HK$101.6 billion (US$17.4 billion) as of March 31.

Authorities should also adopt a multi-prong strategy to fuel economic growth, such as developing international e-commerce businesses and rebuilding the city’s status as an events capital, he added.

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