Hong Kong budget recap: salaries tax to be reduced by 75 per cent, capped at HK$20,000

A bleak outlook for Hong Kong’s economic health was outlined in Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah’s ninth budget speech, with growth slowing to between 1 to 2 per cent this year as the effects of a slump in tourism and exports are felt.

Measures to bolster the economy including tax cuts, tourism industry stimulus packages and support for the city’s innovation and technology sector were outlined in Tsang’s address, which also included commentary on the impact on the city’s economy of the growing tension and turbulence in Hong Kong.

Stay tuned for more budget-related stories and analysis on SCMP.com during the rest of the day.

1.55pm: Business and Professionals Alliance welcomes budget

The alliance’s chairman Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen said: “This is Tsang’s best budget in nine years ... as it is all-rounded, it invests in Hong Kong’s future and for youngsters to become professionals.”

The alliance’s lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said a “defect” of the budget however was that Tsang insisted on not waiving rents for public housing tenants amid economic fears.

1.55pm: Lawmaker offers rare praise for Tsang

People Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip offered rare praise for Tsang, describing the financial secretary’s proposal as “the most localist and politicised budget” ever, and said it strongly highlighted the rift between he and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

He welcomed Tsang’s attempt to acknowledge the value of Cantonese by allocating more resources to the development of local films.