CCTV Beijing, October 12 (Reporter Wang Jing) On October 12, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the relevant situation of "increasing the countercyclical adjustment of fiscal policy and promoting high-quality economic development". At the meeting, Minister of Finance Lan Foan said that since the beginning of this year, the financial sector has conscientiously implemented the requirements of the Central Economic Work Conference, adhered to the active fiscal policy to moderately strengthen, improve quality and efficiency, and combined the use of deficits, special bonds, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, tax incentives, financial subsidies and other policy tools, increase fiscal policy efforts, strengthen the guarantee of key areas, actively prevent and resolve risks, and promote the sustained economic recovery.
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"Six major aspects" to increase the intensity of fiscal policy
In terms of greater support for basic people's livelihood security, Lan Foan introduced that since the beginning of this year, the central government has issued employment subsidies of 66.7 billion yuan to support local governments to do a good job in the employment and vocational skills training of key groups such as college graduates. From January to September, the national education expenditure exceeded 3 trillion yuan. The basic pension level of retirees will be increased according to the proportion of 3% of the country, and the minimum standard of basic pension for urban and rural residents will be greatly raised. The financial subsidy standard for basic public health services will be raised to 94 yuan per person per year, and the financial subsidy standard for basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents will be raised to 670 yuan per person per year.
Lan Foan said that in the next step, the financial department will adapt to the changing situation of the mainland's population development and the multi-level diversified needs of the people, and further increase spending in related fields to better benefit people's livelihood.
In terms of resolving local government debt risks, Lan Foan introduced that the Ministry of Finance has consolidated the responsibility of local entities and implemented various debt reduction measures in accordance with one province and one policy. In addition to the local government debt limit of more than 2.2 trillion yuan in 2023, the central government will allocate another 1.2 trillion yuan in 2024 to support local governments, especially high-risk areas, in resolving existing debt risks and clearing arrears of enterprises. The overall relief of local debt risks has been achieved, and the work of debt reduction has achieved phased results.
"On the whole, the implementation of the active fiscal policy has achieved remarkable results, effectively guaranteed the implementation of major national strategic tasks, and promoted the overall stable and steady progress of economic operation." Lan Foan said that at present, the favorable conditions of the mainland's economy, such as its fundamentals and broad market, strong economic resilience and great potential, have not changed, and some new situations and problems have emerged in economic operation. It is expected that the growth rate of general public budget revenue will be less than expected.
"Everyone is more concerned about whether the budget target can be achieved this year, and here I can responsibly tell you that China's fiscal resilience is enough, and through comprehensive measures, it can achieve a balance between revenue and expenditure and complete the annual budget target, please rest assured!" Lan Foan said.
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The three measures should give full play to the role of fiscal countercyclical adjustment
In order to give full play to the role of fiscal counter-cyclical adjustment and promote the completion of the annual economic and social development goals and tasks, at the press conference, Lan Foan introduced three measures:
The first is to effectively replenish financial resources. The central government has allocated 400 billion yuan from the local government debt balance limit to supplement the comprehensive financial resources of local governments, support local governments in resolving existing debts of government investment projects and digest government arrears to enterprises. Localities with the right conditions should be encouraged to revitalize idle assets, strengthen the management of state-owned capital gains, and strive to increase fiscal revenues. Guide local governments to use existing funds such as the Budget Stabilization and Adjustment Fund in accordance with laws and regulations to ensure the needs of fiscal expenditures.
Second, it is necessary to earnestly guarantee all key expenditures. Adhere to the requirements of party and government organs accustomed to living a tight life, strictly control general expenditures, and use more funds to make up for shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses, and benefit the people's livelihood, so as to ensure that the intensity of key expenditures is not reduced. Strengthen the guarantee of key expenditures such as science and technology and education, implement livelihood policies such as the increase in basic pensions for urban and rural residents and the increase in financial subsidies for basic public health services, and vigorously support major strategies such as comprehensive rural revitalization, green development, and regional coordinated development, and ensure that the policies determined by the Party Central Committee are in place.
The third is to make full use of all kinds of debt funds. At present, the use of additional treasury bonds is being accelerated, and ultra-long-term special treasury bonds are also being issued for use one after another. In terms of special bonds, the amount to be issued plus the unused funds issued, a total of 2.3 trillion yuan of special bond funds can be arranged for use in the next three months. The Ministry of Finance will urge local governments to make good use of all kinds of bond funds, speed up the progress of project implementation, allocate funds in a timely manner according to actual needs, form a physical workload as soon as possible, and play a role in stimulating investment.
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It is proposed to increase the debt limit of a larger scale at one time to replace the implicit debt of local governments
Lan Foan introduced at the press conference of the State Council Information Office that since 2024, after fulfilling relevant procedures, the Ministry of Finance has arranged a debt limit of 1.2 trillion yuan to support local governments to resolve existing hidden debts and digest the government's arrears to enterprises. In order to alleviate the pressure on local governments to reduce debt, in addition to continuing to arrange a certain amount of bonds in the new special bond limit every year to support the resolution of existing government investment project debts, it is planned to increase the debt limit of a larger scale at one time to replace the stock of implicit debts of local governments, and increase efforts to support local governments to resolve debt risks.
Lan Foan stressed that this impending policy is the largest measure to support debt in recent years, which is undoubtedly a timely policy rain, which will greatly reduce the pressure of local debt, free up more resources to develop the economy, boost the confidence of business entities, and consolidate the "three guarantees" at the grassroots level.
Lan Foan said that in the next step, the Ministry of Finance will work with relevant departments to further consolidate the main responsibility of local debt, guide local governments to steadily resolve hidden debt risks and promote the transformation of financing platforms. At the same time, we will seriously investigate and hold accountable the problem of illegal debt borrowing and rectify it within a limited time, and resolutely curb the risk of new hidden debts by discovering and investigating together, and holding them accountable.
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