China should keep budget deficit ratio around 3pc, says official think tank
State Information Centre also recommends GDP target of around 6.5 per cent
China should try to maintain a budget deficit ratio of around 3 per cent in 2018, the State Information Centre said in an article published in the state-owned China Securities Journal on Saturday.
The State Information Centre is an official think tank affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency.
China has maintained a budget deficit target of 3 per cent of gross domestic product in 2017, unchanged from the previous year.
The think tank also proposed a target of 12 per cent growth in total social financing in 2018, with monetary policy loose enough to meet the requirements of the real economy, but tight enough to curb the excessive growth of financial risk.
The think tank said it recommended that China’s GDP target be set around 6.5 per cent.
Reuters earlier cited policy sources who said China would maintain a 6.5 per cent target as policymakers balance the need for steady growth with attempts to address the country’s debt burden.
China’s economy grew by 6.8 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, placing the country on a path to exceed the government’s target of around 6.5 per cent growth for this year.