Beijing urges local governments to quicken budget spending
Economic slowdown hits largest lenders, with overdue loans up by 21pc at the end of last year
Beijing yesterday urged local governments to quicken the pace of budgetary spending to guarantee construction of key projects and boost the slowing economy.
The finance ministry also said local fiscal agencies must finish allocating this year's budget money by the end of next month, or risk the money being called back by the central government in September.
"The move is to further push ahead economic structural reforms, improve people's livelihood and make the fiscal spending an important boost to the economy," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
It also said the central government would consider cutting next year's budget quota for those local departments which failed to spend the amount allocated for this year.
"We noticed problems that the fiscal payment is relatively slow, with large amounts of budget money being carried over to next year, which leaves a big amount of treasury deposits in the coffers," it said.
The ministry reiterated that the budget money for key infrastructure projects must be paid in a timely manner, while spending on some projects could be front-loaded.
The nation's leaders have ruled out the possibility of any big fiscal stimulus to spur economic growth, as they tolerate a gradual slowdown while pushing ahead with structural reforms.
