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Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Frederick Ma, in the Legislative Council today (June 28):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council of the following items brought to credit in March in each of the financial years from 1997-98 to 2005-06:
(a) total amount of Government revenue;
(b) investment income of the fiscal reserves placed with the Exchange Fund; and
(c) land premium?
Reply:
Madam President,
The government revenue data required for the month of March in each of the financial years from 1997-98 to 2005-06 are given below:
($ billion)
Investment
income of the
fiscal reserves
Financial Total amount placed with the Land
year of revenue Exchange Fund premium
--------- ------------ ------------- ------------
1997-98 13.5 N.A. (note) 1.2
1998-99 29.4 26.0 0.6
1999-2000 52.5 41.1 1.0
2000-01 33.4 22.4 1.2
2001-02 11.3 0.1 2.2
2002-03 28.3 17.1 1.3
2003-04 37.4 25.7 0.3
2004-05 30.1 14.5 2.8
2005-06 24.8 10.1 0.6
Note: The return of the fiscal reserves (except for the balances of the Loan Fund and the Capital Investment Fund) was linked to the performance of the overall Exchange Fund with effect from April 1, 1998. The Government's share of the return achieved by the Exchange Fund under this arrangement is credited to the Government's accounts as a lump sum in March each year. In other words, such arrangement is not applicable to the year of 1997-98.
Ends/Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:30
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