Government departments at all levels across the mainland are expected to go on a spending spree in coming weeks in a final push to use up as much as 2 trillion yuan (HK$2.27 trillion), or about a quarter of the annual fiscal spending budget that remains unused in state coffers.
Analysts warned the frenzied spending would inevitably lead to widespread misappropriation or waste of taxpayers' money, or in some instances, embezzlement of public funds.
As of last month, the Ministry of Finance put government spending at 5.62 trillion yuan, accounting for 73.8 per cent of the annual target of 7.62 trillion yuan earmarked for this year.
He Zhenyi, a public finance senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a top central government think tank, said provincial as well as central government officials would speed up spending the remaining 2 trillion yuan, as they feared a budget cut next year if they failed to achieve the expenditure target.
'If your department spent, say 2 million yuan less than the budgeted 25 million, you would have no grounds for asking for the same amount or more in next year's budget,' He said yesterday.
It would create the potential for financial malpractices such as building luxury office buildings, buying posh official cars, or giving away fat bonuses to staff, in order to disburse such a large sum in such a short time, he added.
Finance Minister Xie Xuren has voiced his concern by urging local governments to strengthen the management of public funds and to take precautionary measures to prevent the spending spree at the end of the year, China Business News reported yesterday.