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

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...