The Legislative Council passed here the Budget for the fiscal year 2011-12 on Thursday night.

After two days of debate, the financial blueprint was passed by 33 votes, with one abstention and 19 opposed.

Financial Chief John Tsang delivered budget proposals for the fiscal year 2011-12 on Feb. 23, which contained measures to smooth further economic development while curbing foreseeable inflation and property bubbles.

Earlier Thursday, Legislators passed an amendment to this year' s budget giving 6,000 HK dollars (about 770 U.S. dollars) to each adult permanent resident in the city.

Speaking in Legislative Council this morning, Tsang said 37 billion HK dollars should be sufficient to ensure all eligible citizens get the handout.

About 6.1 million people are expected to qualify for it.

Tsang added that details will be finalized and tabled at Legislative Council for approval and government will then apply to the Finance Committee for the funds.

The extra funding for the proposal was passed by 34 votes, with 11 abstentions and none opposed.

The new measure replaced the original proposal in the Budget which suggested injecting 6,000 HK dollars into Mandatory Provident Fund accounts, a system designed as a retirement protection and was launched in 2000 in the city.

In view of the adjustments to the Budget, Tsang said in his speech at the Legislative Council Wednesday that he estimated that total government revenue for 2011-12 will be 369.7 billion HK dollars, and total expenditure will reach 378.2 billion HK dollars.

The forecast surplus of 3.9 billion HK dollars in the Consolidated Account will become a deficit of 8.5 billion HK dollars. He expected an annual surplus in the Consolidated Account for the period between 2012-13 and 2015-16.

In his speech, Tsang said the controversy over this year's Budget shed light on the expectations of the society and people.

It was this positive energy which we wanted to harness as a driving force for encouraging more focused discussions on various livelihood policies in the community, he said. (1 U.S. dollar equates 7.8 Hong Kong dollars)

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