Chen Maobo: The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's operating accounts will return to surplus.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in his blog post on the 1st that the government's financial accounts for the current fiscal year will return to surplus, one year earlier than originally estimated, thanks to the strong performance of the financial markets last year and the continued progress of fiscal consolidation measures to control expenditure growth. However, additional borrowing will still be needed to support non-operating accounts due to continued investment in infrastructure and the Northern Metropolis area. Chan noted that in January, the performance of Hong Kong stocks continued to improve, with the Hang Seng Index closing at 27,387 points last Friday, up nearly 7% from the previous month. The daily average turnover exceeded HK$272 billion, a 90% increase compared to the same period last year. Despite increased volatility in the external markets, Hong Kong's financial system continued to operate smoothly and stably, with total bank deposits exceeding HK$19 trillion. Chan emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong financial system and ensuring sufficient fiscal resources to deal with potential shocks from the external market volatility.