Finance

Hong Kong finance chief rules out capital gains tax for ‘foreseeable future’

Published

2 years ago

January 17, 2024

Hong Kong finance chief rules out capital gains tax for ‘foreseeable future’

Hong Kong’s finance chief has ruled out the introduction of a controversial capital gains tax in the foreseeable future, pointing to the city’s economic conditions, as he also rejected suggestions on a departure tax.

In an interview with the Post, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, who is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the introduction of a capital gains tax from selling assets was just a suggestion brought up during the consultation period of his February budget plan.

“During the consultation period, there were many people who had different opinions. As a responsible government, we must do our due diligence,” he said on Wednesday.

Paul Chan aims to ‘clear up doubts about Hong Kong’ at Davos forum

Chan said the government had not considered putting forward such a tax “now, or in the foreseeable future”, as it was not suitable for the city.

He also rejected calls from the Liberal Party to introduce a land and sea departure tax in a bid to ease the city’s deficit amid a trend of Hongkongers spending in mainland China.

The idea drew scorn from economists and politicians who warned the “politically insensitive” idea could backfire.

Investment bank JP Morgan has earlier warned that the introduction of a capital gains tax could trigger a panic sale in the local property market, after Chan said the option was one of the proposals being considered by the government to ease its ballooning deficit of more than HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion).

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According to a report by the investment bank, individual capital gains from selling assets such as property and stocks could also lead to short-term pressure on home prices, though the impact might only be temporary.

There is no capital gains tax in Singapore, the city’s main rival.

Earlier this month, Chan said the government would review some charges for public services and those based on a user-pays principle in a bid to raise revenue for the public coffers following massive spending tied to the pandemic.

Chan is in the process of gauging public views ahead of his budget speech set to be delivered on February 28.

Additional reporting by Jeffie Lam

Related Topics:Davos hong kong Paul Chan

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Finance

How AI can expose hidden Hezbollah and Hamas networks | The Jerusalem Post

Published

2 hours ago

November 3, 2025

Press Room

How AI can expose hidden Hezbollah and Hamas networks | The Jerusalem Post

Hezbollah and Hamas thrive on shadowy financial networks-charities, trade deals, crypto wallets. But every transaction leaves a trace and AI can spot the patterns no human ever could.

Terror finance patterns

(photo credit: Courtesy)

ByYARON HAZAN

NOVEMBER 3, 2025 16:49

Updated: NOVEMBER 3, 2025 17:12

Finance

The New Hampshire Business Finance Authority honors lenders at the 5th annual Granite State Awards

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20 hours ago

November 2, 2025

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Hoskinson Gives Insight on Cardano DeFi and ADA Holders

Published

2 days ago

November 1, 2025

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Hoskinson Gives Insight on Cardano DeFi and ADA Holders

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has responded to renewed criticism about the network’s total value locked (TVL) and relatively sluggish decentralized finance (DeFi) growth.

On October 31, Hoskinson acknowledged the gap between Cardano’s DeFi activity and leading blockchains like Ethereum and Solana. However, he said the numbers fail to capture the network’s broader participation and governance strength.

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Cardano Bets on Bitcoin Interoperability to Unlock Billions in DeFi Liquidity

Hoskinson pushed back on the long-standing belief that introducing major stablecoins such as USDT or USDC would automatically transform Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem.

“No one’s ever made the argument and explained how the existence of one of these larger stablecoins is magically going to make Cardano’s entire DeFi problem go away, make the price go up, massively improve our MAUs, our TVL, and all these other things,” he said.

He argued that their arrival alone would not solve the network’s structural challenges or guarantee growth.

According to him, Cardano already has native, asset-backed stablecoins like USDM and USDA that can be minted at will and rarely lose their peg.

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Instead, Hoskinson pointed to user behavior as the main reason Cardano’s DeFi TVL remains small.

For context, he noted that the network has about 1.3 million users who stake or participate in governance, collectively holding more than $15 billion in ADA.

However, those figures don’t count toward TVL metrics, and most ADA holders remain passive participants rather than active liquidity providers.

“Cardano has a fertile ecosystem. There’s a lot of people floating around. There’s a lot of people who hold ADA, who have Cardano wallets, who have been in our ecosystem — in many cases more than five years. But not a lot of those people have crossed the chasm to use DeFi in Cardano,” he stated.

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He added that this distinction creates a “chicken-and-egg” loop for Cardano’s ecosystem. According to Hoskinson, the network’s low activity deters partnerships and liquidity, while the lack of external integrations further limits on-chain adoption.

To counter these limitations, Hoskinson outlined a multi-year roadmap that ties DeFi growth to real-world finance and Bitcoin interoperability.

He highlighted the Midnight network—a privacy-focused sidechain—and RealFi, a microfinance platform targeting African markets, as key initiatives.

Both will integrate with Bitcoin DeFi, allowing ADA and BTC to be lent, converted into stablecoins, and used in real-world lending products.

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Hoskinson expects this combination to drive “billions of dollars” in new liquidity while attracting Bitcoin’s vast capital base. He also cited ongoing projects such as Leios, as proof that Cardano continues to evolve at the protocol level.

Still, he conceded that Cardano’s core issue is coordination and accountability, not technology.

“It’s not a technology problem. It’s not a node problem. It’s not a problem of imagination and creativity. It’s not a problem of execution. We can pretty much do anything. It’s a problem of governance and coordination and ultimately accountability and responsibility,” Hoskinson said.

To fix this, he proposed delegating clear responsibility for ecosystem expansion. He also called for targeted marketing and event strategies to mobilize ADA holders toward DeFi participation.

“The problem isn’t the ability to do a marketing campaign. The problem isn’t our ability to ship great software. It’s that there’s no one accountable to actually conceive of it, execute it, and be held accountable to the outcome of it. That’s the problem in a nutshell. So that is the problem we have to solve next year as we look to 2026,” He stated.