China’s fiscal revenue shrank 2.7% in Jan-Apr amid shaky economic recovery
CHINA’S fiscal revenue slipped 2.7 per cent in the first four months of 2024 from a year earlier, after a 2.3 per cent slide in the January-to-March period, in a further sign of an uneven economic recovery.
Fiscal expenditure rose 3.5 per cent in the first four months, versus a 2.9 per cent gain in the first quarter, according to finance ministry data released on Monday (May 20).
For April alone, fiscal revenue fell 3.7 per cent against a 2.4 per cent decline in March, while fiscal spending was up 6.1 per cent, compared with March’s 2.9 per cent fall, according to Reuters’ calculations based on the ministry data.
Excluding factors such as last year’s high base and tax cut policies, fiscal revenue in the first four months grew 2 per cent, the ministry said in a statement.
China has set an ambitious economic growth target of around 5 per cent for this year, which many analysts say will be a challenge to meet as prolonged weakness in the property sector and tepid consumer demand remain a drag on the economy.
Factory output topped forecasts in April, helped by improving external demand, but retail sales unexpectedly slowed and the property sector remained a key drag on the economy, piling pressure on Beijing to do more to support growth.
The expansion of outstanding total social financing (TSF), a broad measure of credit and liquidity, hit a record low of 8.3 per cent in April, amid lagging government bond issuance.
China on Friday unveiled “historic” property easing measures and the finance ministry kicked off the issuance of one trillion yuan in long-dated special treasury bonds to stimulate key sectors of the economy. REUTERS
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