Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang said here on Wednesday that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has no plan to legislate prohibiting or penalizing the refusal to accept legal tender as payment.

He told lawmakers that it is more flexible to allow both parties to a transaction to determine the method of payment on their own, and it will encourage the development of more diversified means of payment.

Whether to accept notes and coins of any denomination as payment is purely a commercial decision for goods or service providers, he said.

The Legal Tender Notes Issue and the Coinage Ordinances do not confer any authority upon the HKSAR government to force goods or service providers to accept any notes and coins.

Most countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, the United States and Singapore, have laws on legal tender to establish the legal status of their currencies. However, they do not have legislation to compel their residents or goods or service providers to accept the legal tender as payment or to punish those who refuse to accept it.

"We believe that the current arrangement of allowing both parties to a transaction to determine the payment method will encourage the development of other means of payment, such as electronic money," he said.

"On the contrary, legislation to prohibit goods or service providers from refusing to accept legal tender notes and coins might hinder the development of technology and more effective electronic means of payment. It will also cause inconvenience to the goods or service providers as they may commit an offense by not having enough change to give a customer who uses a large-denomination note," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2007)