HK records over 27 bln HKD deficit in April-July

The Hong Kong government said on Friday that it posted a deficit of 27.1 billion HK dollars (about 3.5 billion U.S. dollars) from April to July 2013.

In its financial results for the four months ended July 31, the government said the expenditure for the period amounted to 138.4 billion HK dollars and revenue 111.3 billion HK dollars, resulting in a deficit of 27.1 billion HK dollars.

A government spokesperson said that the deficit stemmed mainly from some major types of revenue including salaries and profits taxes that were mostly received towards the end of a financial year.

The fiscal reserves stood at 706.8 billion HK dollars at the end of July. (1 U.S. dollar = 7.76 HK dollars)