Hong Kong budget 2026-27: beyond balancing the books, what’s at stake?

South China Morning Post · Feb 20, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Simon Leung has been without a full-time job since his contract ended in March 2024, after the Hong Kong government cut its budget for NGOs by 7 per cent.The social work event coordinator, who is in his late forties, now makes ends meet through gig jobs.With word spreading that the city’s coming budget will yield an early operating surplus, he wants Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po to restore funding for non-governmental organisations so retrenched workers like him can be hired again.“They should increase the budget back to the previous level,” the civil engineering graduate from Queen’s University in Canada told the South China Morning Post.Like other Hongkongers, Leung hopes his sector will receive attention in next Wednesday’s budget.Yet, others question whether such relief measures ought to be weighed against plans for the longer-term future riddled with uncertainty. Even short-term measures, they argued, must be plugged into the big picture of the city’s ambitions – to stay ahead as an international financial centre while ensuring a liveable, affordable home for its residents.From deficit to sound fiscal health