Night view of the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 8, 2018. [Photo/VCG] HONG KONG - The government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is expected to have a surplus of HK$58.7 billion ($7.48 billion) for the fiscal year of 2018-2019, its financial chief said Wednesday. Hong Kong's fiscal reserves are expected to reach HK$1,161.6 billion ($147.99 billion) by March 31, 2019, the end of the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the HKSAR government's Financial Secretary Paul Chan said when delivering the annual budget. Looking ahead for 2019, Chan said the uncertain global economic outlook this year will restrain Hong Kong's economic performance. Having regard to the latest internal and external developments, I will make optimal use of the fiscal surplus for 2018-2019 to introduce one-off measures to support enterprises and relieve people's burden, he said. Together with the stimulus effect of other measures in the budget, Chan said he forecasts economic growth of 2 percent to 3 percent in real terms for Hong Kong in 2019. On inflation, taking various factors into account, he forecast that the headline inflation rate and the underlying inflation rate for 2019 would both be 2.5 percent. While forecasting the medium-term average growth rate slightly higher than the trend growth of 2.8 percent over the past decade and the inflation rate remaining 2.5 percent, Chan warned that Hong Kong has to stay vigilant against the mounting external pressures. I prepared this year's budget along the direction of 'supporting enterprises, safeguarding jobs, stabilising the economy, strengthening livelihoods', he said, adding that he would provide new resources ready for use of about HK$150 billion in the new budget. (1 US dollar equals 7.85 Hong Kong dollars) plastic braceletsrubber band braceletswristbands for events
People ride their bikes through rain and wind along Manila Bay, the Philippines, Aug. 11, 2018. Typhoon Yagi brought gales and heavy rain in parts of Metro Manila. [Photo/Xinhua] HANGZHOU -- East China's coastal Shanghai city and Zhejiang province are on alert for Typhoon Yagi, which is moving northwest at a speed of 18 km per hour and is forecast to make landfall late Sunday. The center of Yagi, the 14th typhoon this year, was located about 730 km southeast of Taizhou City, Zhejiang province at 8 pm Saturday, packing winds of up to 72 km per hour, according to the National Meteorological Center. The storm would continue to gain force and was estimated to make landfall in the coastal area between Xiangshan and Yuhuan in Zhejiang on Sunday evening, packing winds of up to 108 km per hour, the center said. The center renewed a blue alert for the typhoon, the lowest level in China's four-tier color-coded warning system, on Saturday. Rainstorms are expected to batter the coastal areas of Zhejiang and neighboring Shanghai. Zhejiang's flood control authorities activated a Grade IV response to Yagi Friday evening. About 16,000 fishing boats and more than 3,000 non-fishing vessels had been in harbor for shelter or were in safe waters as of midday Saturday in Zhejiang, local authorities said. Shanghai authorities have also made arrangements to brace for the storm. Some areas of the metropolis will have a precipitation of 150 mm from midday Sunday to early Monday, with gales and thunderstorms, the municipal meteorological center said.
