Hong Kong will cut thousands of civil service jobs and boost spending in artificial intelligence as it seeks to tackle an increasing deficit, authorities said Wednesday. Finance Secretary Paul Chan said during a budget speech that there would be a cumulative reduction of government recurrent expenditure by 7 per cent from now until 2027-2028. Hong Kong's deficit had reached 87.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (USD 11.2 billion) for the financial year of 2024-2025, making it the third straight year of losses. It gives us a clear pathway towards the goal of restoring fiscal balance, Chan said. He said 10,000 civil servant posts would be cut by April 2027, representing a reduction of about 2 per cent of the civil service in each of the next two years. Salaries will also be frozen in the civil service this year. Chan also said that up to 195 billion Hong Kong dollars (USD 25 billion) worth of bonds will also be issued in the next five years to ensure progress of important infrastructure ..