Hong Kong's outgoing leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor expected her multi-million dollars pension will be paid to her in cash as she is still under sanctions by the U.S., and refused to apologize to citizens over anything she has done in her term in office.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, the chief executive said even now she collects her salary from the government in cash since she was sanctioned by the U.S. in August 2020, and expects she will also collect her pension in cash.

Lam's annual salary once reached HK$5.21 million but was reduced by 10 percent to about HK$4.69 million in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yet, documents revealed that her annual salary for the year 2021/22 bounced back to HK$5.08 million in April 2021.

Assuming Lam earned over HK$25 million in these five years, she would be guaranteed an extra 25 percent cut as her pension for completing her term, granting her at least HK$6.25 million.

If Lam is to receive her pension in cash as well, she can expect at least 6,250 HK$1,000 banknotes to be sent to her residence.

Lam hoped Washington will one day realize sanctioning her is a wrong decision and eradicate this mistake themselves.

On another note, Lam refused to apologize to Hongkongers over any things that happened within her five-year term.

However, she added she wanted to apologize to her husband and sons, who sacrificed a lot to support her during her service to the city and China.

On a rare occasion, Lam also admitted that stringent quarantine requirements comparatively weaken the city's status as an international financial hub when other countries and regions are opening their borders.

She pointed out that Hong Kong couldn't move to home qurantine when chasing the “dual objectives” of resuming international links and opening the mainland border.

Carrie Lam speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Bloomberg)

A bag full of cash: Carrie Lam expects pension to be paid in cash under US sanctions