The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's surplus may reach 50 billion HK dollars (US$6.45 billion) in this fiscal year, Financial Secretary of HKSAR government John Tsang said here Saturday.

Speaking on a radio talk show Saturday, Tsang said the Chief Executive's Policy Address has already promised to cut the salaries tax to 15 percent and profits tax to 16.5 percent.

Tsang said he would continue to listen to the community's views on the budget and make a balanced decision early next year.

He said inflation is expected to rise to 2 percent by the end of the year, adding that it is still a mild rise compared with a 5 percent to 6 percent GDP growth.

However, he admitted that price rises have affected the poor and the HKSAR government will study how to assist them to help themselves, and that one of the best ways is to create more jobs.

Tsang said the Policy Address has announced the HKSAR government will push ahead with 10 large-scale infrastructure projects and a rough estimate finds that about 250,000 jobs would be created.

This will help people to get a job and improve their standard of living, he added.

He noted that Hong Kong is facing keen competition from regional cities for convention and exhibition services but the HKSAR government will continue its discussions with the sector to find ways of strengthening Hong Kong's competitiveness.

The completion of the Convention and Exhibition Center extension will help meet demand in the mid-term, he said, adding more places will be considered for the industry's future development.

Commenting on the recent stock market performance, he urged investors to be cautious when making any decisions, as stock prices may go up as well as down.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2007)