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Two-thirds of youngrespondents would pay attention to the forth coming Budget, according to a territory-widesurvey conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. Respondents who were older,had a higher educational attainment, and who paid tax in the last financial year were morelikely to do so. The survey also found that as many as half of the respondents hoped thatthe Financial Secretary would present a fiscally balanced budget for the coming year.Another 40 per cent of respondents suggested cutting expenditure on Civil ServicesSalaries and Conditions of Service to alleviate the Government's financial burden.
Nearly half of the respondents particularly those who hadto pay tax, agreed that Hong Kong's tax base was too narrow. Meanwhile, 45 per centdisagreed that widening the tax base was a good source of revenue for the Government in along run. Slightly more than 60 per cent of respondents believed that the levy of a salestax would do more harm than good. A similar percentage of respondents disagreed with theland depature tax (58.4%). When asked how the levy of a sales tax would affect theirconsumption behavior, more than 55 per cent of respondents said that they would becautious in spending money and in counting costs. Another one-third said that they wouldspend less, purchase discount items or buy lower price items.
With regard to saving Government expenditure, a majority ofrespondents were of the view that the Government should consider cutting expenditure onCivil Services Salaries and Conditions of Service. However, one-fourth of respondentsthought that the Government should not cut spending in any areas. When asked which reliefmeasures would help them the most, a significant proportion of respondents (41.1%)referred to an increase in basic personal allowance, particularly among the working youth.
The Government received a score of 61.4 points on a scaleof 0-100, as an indicator of respondents’ confidence in a healthy financialsituation. The Financial Secretary earned a support rating of 63.5 points.
The telephone poll, conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of YouthGroups from 29 February to 4 March, successfully interviewed 519 young people aged between18 and 29. The survey found that a considerable proportion of respondents (60%) paidattention to the GovernmentGs public expenditure. Respondentswho were older, had a higher educational attainment, and who paid tax in the lastfinancial year were more interested. One-third of respondents had watched the series ofshort programmes on public finance management produced by the Government. Among them, 37per cent said that programmes helped them understand the Government'soperation of public finance management, but 60 per cent said otherwise.
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Youth Opinion Polls No. 74
