'Purely CUHK's decision to repay loan early'

The decision of a private hospital, run by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), to fully repay a government loan of more than HK$4 billion earlier than scheduled did not come upon government's request, the institution's council said on Wednesday. The CUHK Medical Centre (CUHKMC) said this week it would repay the HK$4.033 billion government loan in full by March next year, ahead of its plan to start paying off the money in 2028. It had earlier sought extensions to its repayment plan twice. Lawmaker Bill Tang, who's also a CUHK Council member, stressed that CUHKMC has been recording a surplus since last November, even though it had suffered losses. "I can say it's purely 100 percent in consideration of the best public interest and best CUHK interest," he said. "And it is purely determined by the CUHK Council and the CU hospital council." They believed the decision would be best for CUHKMC's development, Tang added. Another CUHK Council member and legislator, Ben Chan, said the decision would not impact the university's operations, despite its plans to provide loans or bank loan guarantees to the medical centre to pay back the loan. The money would not come from funds set aside for education purposes or other designated purposes, he said. Legco's Panel on Health Services will discuss the repayment proposal on May 8. Edited by Tony Sabine