BEIJING: China’s fiscal health remains resilient and could meet the budget goals for 2024 through the government’s comprehensive measures, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an said on Saturday.
There is also significant room for further spending and borrowing, while other policy tools are being studied in addition to the counter-cyclical adjustments already discussed, said Lan at a press conference.
The minister also highlighted a series of upcoming targeted fiscal measures aimed at stimulating growth, expanding domestic demand and mitigating risks.
These include providing substantial support to local governments to resolve hidden debt issues and issuing special national bonds to enhance the tier-one core capital of major state-owned commercial banks. These steps are designed to improve banks’ risk management and credit provision capabilities, thereby directly supporting the real economy.
Additional efforts will be directed toward stabilizing the real estate market through the deployment of local government special bonds, dedicated funds and specific tax policies.
The finance minister also announced increased support for vulnerable groups.
“The key messages are that the central government can issue more bonds and raise the fiscal deficit, and the central government plans to issue more bonds to help local governments pay their debts,” Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management told South China Morning Post in the immediate aftermath of the ministry’s conference.
“If these targeted policies are swiftly effective, achieving this year’s growth target of around 5 percent is feasible,” Bruce Pang, chief economist of JLL Greater China, told CGTN.
