HK government officials to take 5% pay cut: report
AFP , HONG KONG
Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009, Page 11
Hong Kong’s chief executive and top government ministers will take a pay cut of
more than 5 percent as part of the territory’s belt-tightening during the
economic downturn, reports said yesterday.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) and other senior officials were expected to
take a cut of 5.38 percent, the South China Morning Post and other media
reported, citing an unnamed source.
A spokeswoman for the chief executive’s office would not confirm the reports
but said that Tsang had vowed to “stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people”
during the difficult economic times.
ECHO OF SARS
The pay cut will be the first top-level drop in wages since 2003, when senior
officials took a 10 percent reduction during the SARS outbreak. The disease
killed around 300 people in the territory and turned its financial hub into a
virtual ghost town.
The latest move comes as the government was expected to announce a pay cut for
around 18,000 of the city’s best-paid civil servants, a move that has sparked
protests from labor unions.
Tsang was criticized last year for creating 17 new highly paid political
positions.
The Post said Tsang earns HK$371,855 (US$47,674) a month.
RECESSION
Hong Kong fell into recession in the third quarter of last year and last month
the government slashed its growth forecast for this year, saying the economy
would contract 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent this year, from a previous forecast
of 2 percent to 3 percent
