Hong Kong flags 10,000 civil service job cuts, AI push in bid to reverse huge deficit

HONG KONG: Hong Kong aims to cut spending by slashing 10,000 civil service jobs in an effort to rein in a rising deficit, and plans a big AI push as it navigates headwinds from global economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and a weak property market.

"It gives us a clear pathway towards the goal of restoring fiscal balance in the operating account, in a planned and progressive manner," said the city's Financial Secretary Paul Chan in announcing the financial hub's annual budget.

Chan said 10,000 civil servant jobs would be cut by April 2027, representing a reduction of 2 per cent of the civil service in each of the coming two years. Public sector salaries will also be frozen this year.

Chan said the "reinforced" fiscal consolidation programme would see a cumulative reduction in public expenditure by 7 per cent from now till fiscal year ending on Mar 31, 2028.

The spending cut would lay a "sustainable fiscal foundation for future development", he said, after a sharp fall in revenue from land sales left the deficit at HK$87.2 billion, nearly double the previous forecast of HK$48.1 billion.

Separately, in line with China's growing push to develop self-reliance in AI and other high technology sectors including robotics, Chan said Hong Kong would "leverage its strength as an international platform for stepping up the development of the AI industry". The city has earmarked HK$1 billion for an AI Research and development institute.

GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY

Hong Kong's small and open economy has also been vulnerable to external headwinds including China's economic slowdown, and the tensions between China and the US as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Beijing around trade, tech and geopolitics.

Earlier this year, the US imposed additional tariffs of 10 per cent on goods from China and also Hong Kong, which the financial hub's government has criticised, saying Washington has ignored the city's status as a separate customs territory.

Following China's imposition of a powerful national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, a number officials including current leader John Lee were sanctioned, and the city was stripped of its special status as a separate trading entity.

One of Hong Kong's major conglomerates, CK Hutchison 001.HK, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, is also facing pressure from the US over its ports in the Panama Canal, after Trump falsely claimed China is operating the canal.

"Hong Kong is facing a rather complicated international environment amid changes unseen in a century around the world. The rise of protectionism and unilateralism has resulted in a fragmented global political and economic landscape," Chan said.

Hong Kong's finances have been hurt in the last three years by plunging revenues from land premiums - which developers pay for land use - as home prices tumbled nearly 30 per cent.

The government will not put any commercial sites on sale in the coming year, due to high office vacancy rates and ample future supply, and will consider rezoning some commercial sites to residential sites.

Land sales have traditionally been a main source of income for the government, contributing more than 20 per cent to coffers, a figure that has now slipped to around 5 per cent. Hong Kong's fiscal reserves are now around HK$647.3 billion.