Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Saturday said his proposal to freeze civil servant pay aims to show the government's determination in achieving a fiscal balance.

In his budget speech on Wednesday, he proposed cutting recurrent government expenditure by two per cent for the coming financial year.

Some lawmakers and political parties suggested deeper cuts of five to 10 per cent.

Chan told an RTHK programme that salaries were the government's biggest expense, and it was best to take a cautious approach to any cuts.

"We need to make some adjustments in this area, while maintaining the level of public services. Even when training staff to use technology, it takes time," he said.

"We believe that reducing recurrent expenditure by two per cent annually is more appropriate. If we move too quickly, haste makes waste and the results may not be as good."

The finance chief reiterated that he didn't want to rely too heavily on land income, citing the tremendous financial pressure on residents when land and property prices soared in the past.

"We don't want housing to be as expensive as it was during times of short supply. So we'll continue our work on land supply. As for releasing prepared land, we can be flexible and take market conditions into consideration."

On plans to roll out eight residential plots in the coming year, Chan said land sale plans shouldn't be linked to land premium income and this year's housing supply shouldn't be excessive.

Speaking on another radio programme, Chan said the government would expedite the development of the Northern Metropolis, adding that many mainland enterprises had expressed an interest in its development.

Infrastructure investment for the Northern Metropolis has increased from HK$90 billion to HK$120 billion annually.