China to introduce incremental fiscal policy measures to support economy

BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) — China will introduce a package of targeted incremental fiscal policy measures in the near future to boost the economy, Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an told a press conference on Saturday.
The package includes increasing the debt ceiling on a relatively large scale in a lump sum to replace existing hidden debts of local governments and help defuse their debt risks.
The minister said the counter-cyclical adjustment involves not just policies that are already going through relevant decision-making procedures but also other policy tools in consideration, such as debt issuance and deficit rise.
There remains considerable room for China’s central finance to issue debts and expand the deficit, he said.
For the property market, the minister said the country will apply a set of fiscal policy tools including local government special-purpose bonds, special funds and taxation policies to help stabilize the sector.
China will issue special treasury bonds to support large state-owned commercial banks in replenishing the core tier-1 capital, according to Lan.
The move is aimed at enhancing the banks’ risk resilience and lending capacity to better serve the development of the real economy, he said. ■