Bouncing back: The GDP, unemployment rate and CPI have all improved - suggesting Hong Kong's economic fundamentals are stronger with greater resilience to external shocks.

A strategy aimed at stabilising the financial system, supporting enterprises and preserving employment - in the shortest possible time - has helped Hong Kong weather the global financial recession's ups and downs in the last fiscal year, Financial Secretary John Tsang says.

At the start of his Budget address in the Legislative Council today, he noted the global financial recession was the most severe since World War II, adding, "the shocks to the global economy, in terms of their severity and scale, were more profound than those experienced during the Asian financial turmoil in 1997 and 1998."

In the face of this severe financial crisis, the Government took measures to provide liquidity to banks, offer depositors a full deposit guarantee, and set up loan guarantee schemes with a guarantee commitment of $100 billion for small and medium enterprises. It also developed fiscal stimulus, job creation and relief measures amounting to $87.6 billion.