China's Ministry of Finance is implementing a series of comprehensive measures to ensure the annual budget targets are met this year, said Finance Minister Lan Fo'an at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday. The country's fiscal revenue has shown strong signs of recovery, with central government general public budget revenue reaching 1.07 trillion yuan (149 billion U.S. dollars) in October, up 7.9 percent year on year.
The growth rate marked a significant improvement from September's 2.4 percent increase, Lan said.
From January to October, central government general public budget revenue totaled 8.2 trillion yuan, showing a narrowing decline compared to the January-September period, indicating a recovery trend.
For the last months of 2024, Lan outlined a series of robust measures to maintain fiscal stability. These include arrangements for relevant central government units to contribute specialized revenue and strengthened management of fiscal expenditures to ensure full implementation of central-to-local transfer payments.
In a significant move to support local governments, the ministry has allocated a 400-billion-yuan debt limit to bolster local fiscal capacity, Lan added.
"From the prospective of local governments, we have set aside 400 billion yuan on the balance of local government debt to replenish the overall financial capacity of local governments. We encourage qualified local governments to put their existing resources and assets to good use, strengthen management of state capital returns, and meet the needs of government expenditures. If it is really necessary, local governments still have stock funds such as budget stabilization funds that can be used. In general, we have sufficient policy tools and resources to ensure that national fiscal revenue and expenditures remain balanced this year, with key expenditures unabated," he said.
China has sufficient toolbox to ensure fiscal balance in 2024: minister
China has sufficient toolbox to ensure fiscal balance in 2024: minister
