Hong Kong to cut thousands of civil service jobs and invest in AI

Hong Kong is aiming to tackle a deficit (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Hong Kong will cut thousands of civil service jobs and boost spending in artificial intelligence (AI) as it seeks to tackle an increasing deficit, authorities said.

Finance secretary Paul Chan said during a budget speech that there would be a “cumulative reduction” of government recurrent expenditure by 7% from now until 2027-2028.