China will release funds to local governments more quickly to boost economy – TheChronicleHerald.ca

Published

4 years ago

August 26, 2020

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will speed up the release of special funds to local governments to support the economy, vice finance minister Xu Hongcai told reporters on Wednesday.

The government has said it would set up special transfer payments of 2 trillion yuan ($289.72 billion) from special treasury bonds and an increased budget deficit to local governments.

“The implementation of specific policies and measures will have a positive impact on investment, consumption as well as imports and exports,” Xu told a briefing.

Of the 2 trillion yuan, 1.7 trillion yuan will be allocated to local governments after deducting 300 billion yuan for supporting tax and fee cuts this year, Xu said.

Local governments have spent 509.7 billion yuan, accounting for 30.5% of 1.674 trillion yuan in funds that have been actually allocated from the central government, he said.

Xu said he expected cities and counties that have already received the funds will speed up spending.

The authorities will punish officials who intercept and misappropriate the funds, or those who make false claims, Li Jinghui, a finance ministry official, told the same briefing.

China has set a 2020 budget deficit of at least 3.6% of GDP, up from last year’s 2.8%. The government has finished issuing 1 trillion yuan in special treasury bonds.

China’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis has been building up steam, thanks to pent-up demand, government stimulus and surprisingly resilient exports. But it lost some momentum in July.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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September merchandise trade deficit narrows to $1.3 billion: Statistics Canada

Published

6 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the country’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $1.3 billion in September as imports fell more than exports.

The result compared with a revised deficit of $1.5 billion for August. The initial estimate for August released last month had shown a deficit of $1.1 billion.

Statistics Canada says the results for September came as total exports edged down 0.1 per cent to $63.9 billion.

Exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products fell 5.4 per cent as exports of unwrought gold, silver, and platinum group metals, and their alloys, decreased 15.4 per cent. Exports of energy products dropped 2.6 per cent as lower prices weighed on crude oil exports.

Meanwhile, imports for September fell 0.4 per cent to $65.1 billion as imports of metal and non-metallic mineral products dropped 12.7 per cent.

In volume terms, total exports rose 1.4 per cent in September while total imports were essentially unchanged in September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

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