Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac expects the city’s future budget plans could be more precise regarding expenditure for public investment plans (PIDDA) following the amendments to the budget framework law.
Yesterday, the Legislative Assembly read and passed the execution report of the 2015 budget.
During the discussion, legislator Antonio Ng Kuok Cheong urged the city’s financial chief to better monitor the budget of local infrastructure projects, which are worth more than MOP100 million (US$12.5 million).
“There are more public works projects being constructed in the MSAR than before. However, the current supervision budget mechanism is not sufficient enough to lead the government to spend accurately,” the directly-elected legislator opined.
But the Secretary believes there will be improvements in the government’s budgets once the amendments to the city’s budget framework law get implemented.
The amendments will require government departments to estimate the total expense and yearly budget for a multiple-year infrastructure project, in addition to the timetable for the construction.
“Each quarter of the year, all progress reports of the public works projects are required to be submitted to the AL for discussion and review,” Secretary Leong said.
He stressed that the total costs of a public project, the execution of the budget as well as the timetables should all be clearly released to the public so they can monitor the progress of the projects.
Vocational training
Meanwhile, legislator Mak Soi Kun argued that the government’s total spending on vocational training was too low.
“Since the city’s economy is in a transitional stage, the government should provide more vocational training in order to meet the changing demands and to diversify the local economy,” Legislator Mak suggested.
Secretary Leong replied that the MSAR Government has given priority to providing vocational training in order to assist local employers to effectively manage their human resources during the adjustment period of the local economy.
He believes these vocational training courses can also help with the career development of employees so they will be able to change to different jobs more easily.
“However, more research is needed to study which particular sectors would require more vocational training among different industries,” the official said.
