With the government facing a budget shortfall of almost HK$100 billion, all eyes will be on how the financial secretary plans to cut spending and increase revenue when he delivers his budget speech on Wednesday.

Paul Chan is expected to address civil service pay and announce possible reductions in expenditure in some areas.

Some people see freezing or even reducing civil service pay as a way to help rein in the deficit and achieve fiscal stability.

But others argued that such a move could have a knock-on effect for the wider workforce, as many private firms refer to government salaries in making their own wage decisions.

Lawmaker Ronick Chan, representing the finance constituency, has said freezing or cutting civil service pay would affect millions of workers in the city, and may cause changes in people's consumption patterns, leading to a vicious cycle.

Officials may also try to save money by cutting spending in other areas, with the financial secretary having cited healthcare and education earlier.

Health minister Lo Chung-mau has said putting public resources to good use is everyone's responsibility. "Nobody should be wasteful... It should be everyone in Hong Kong, and all government departments... We hope our patients make good use of healthcare resources and don't waste medicine. Like they take extra and just keep them at home, or even throw them away."

The chairman of the Hospital Authority, Henry Fan, said the authority will fully cooperate with government policies.

Paul Chan stressed the government will propose an enhanced fiscal-consolidation strategy to control public expenditure stringently, while using other public resources to speed up the city's development.

On ways to boost revenue, he has highlighted the user-pays principle, meaning those who can afford to should pay more and at the same time minimising the impact to the average people.

The Taxation Institute said the government could consider raising the standard salaries tax rate for high-income earners from 16 percent to 17 percent, to help boost the public coffers.

But the financial secretary has also said the administration will have to tread carefully when considering tax reforms, and many factors have to be taken into consideration.