There is broad public agreement that changes have to be made to Hong Kong’s HK$2 transport fares for the over 60s, Paul Chan said on Sunday, as he suggested healthcare and education could also be in line for government spending cuts.
On a Commercial Radio programme, the financial secretary said the intentions behind the HK$2 scheme were very good, but the expenses involved have been mounting since the eligible age was lowered from the original 65.
“I think there’s a public consensus that the current scheme isn’t financially sustainable over the long run, if no changes are made to it. So how should we change it?” he said.
“There are so many different views. We’re collecting them and then officials will assess them and discuss them internally. We’re all looking at different proposals in detail.”
With his budget speech coming up on February 26, Chan said there is room to save money in areas including education and healthcare.
Chan said universities have relatively large amounts of reserves, adding that everyone can play their part in the next couple of years to tackle the government’s budget deficit.
The minister said, however, that the government will minimise the effects of expenditure cuts on the public.