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Hong Kong’s finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po is set to deliver his budget speech on February 28. The budget is estimated to exceed HK$100 billion, with the city hoping to boost its sluggish economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Academic estimates 28,000 smokers will quit habit, preventing 9,350 premature deaths.
Finance chief also says world economy in fragile state amid period of complex geopolitics, after returning from World Economic Forum in Davos.
Paul Chan says deficit expected to be just over HK$100 billion, much higher than HK$57 billion suggested earlier.