With the government set to unveil its new budget in a month's time, lawmakers have been making suggestions on what Financial Secretary Paul Chan should focus on.

Councillors at an RTHK programme on Saturday made a range of suggestions, from handing out night-time consumption vouchers and boosting child tax allowances, to reserving the city’s fiscal strength for longer-term development.

Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Sunny Tan said the administration should make targeted investments to better equip people for the future.

"I think we need to focus on identifying which groups need help and what resources should be given to help them keep pace with the times," he said.

"For example, we can help them learn more about artificial intelligence to equip them with the right tools to strive forward."

Accountancy-sector representative Webster Ng said that while people would of course appreciate tax breaks and other budget sweeteners, the government should set its sights on the longer term and only come up with handouts when it can afford them.

“During the pandemic, the government helped both people and businesses," he said.

"But now, we should be focusing on development. After we boost development, then we can consider what benefits we can give people. There are lots of ways to do this, such as tax breaks or deductions for the middle class," he said.

Due to ongoing investments by the government, Ng added, the SAR will continue to be in deficit in the coming three years on the capital account, but economic returns are expected from these projects in five to 10 years.

A third lawmaker, Johnny Ng, suggested the government roll out consumption vouchers that people could only use after 9pm or 9.30pm as a way to revitalise the night economy.

He also urged the government to raise its child tax allowance and expand the applicable uses of elderly healthcare vouchers to travel packages and gerontechnology products.