Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。
Coming up on today’s program.
重点提要
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
中国经济要闻
The Chinese central government will issue an additional 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) in special bonds during the fourth quarter, expanding budgeted fiscal deficit rates to around 3.8 percent for the year from 3 percent, as part of its effort to support post-disaster reconstruction.
The extra bonds will be allocated to local governments through transfer payments in a move that is expected to optimize the local debt structure and ease the fiscal burdens of local governments, according to the plan approved by the country's top legislature on Tuesday, China’s Ministry of Finance explained on a Wednesday’s press briefing.
Around 500 billion yuan is planned to be utilized within the year, while the remaining half trillion yuan will be used next year, laying a solid foundation for a sound start of the world's second-largest economy next year.
In connection with the new bond issue, there will be a corresponding adjustment to the central government's budget in 2023. China's fiscal deficit will rise to 4.88 trillion yuan from 3.88 trillion yuan this year, which means that the fiscal deficit ratio would jump to 3.8 percent from 3 percent.
Analysts said that the adjustment won't lead to any financial risks as China's overall debt level is still significantly lower than that of other major economies and it still has plenty of room for policy maneuvers.
In 2020, China's deficit-to-GDP ratio was 3.7 percent, and the ratio was brought down to 3.1 percent in 2021 and 2.8 percent in 2022.
The funds will be focused on eight areas, including post-disaster reconstruction, key flood prevention projects, natural disaster emergency response capacity improvement projects as well as high-standard farmland construction in disaster-stricken areas in Northeast China and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, according to the plan.
The amount is quite large in comparable terms. In 2020, China issued 1 trillion yuan of special treasury bonds to fund stimulus spending and shore up the economy during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the amount was 750 billion yuan.
The finance ministry said that as a next step, it will launch the debt issuance in a timely manner, to ensure the task is completed on time. Meanwhile, it will facilitate the local budget allocation to accelerate the formation of real investment.
中央财政将在今年四季度增发2023年国债10000亿元，增发的国债全部通过转移支付方式安排给地方，支持灾后恢复重建和弥补防灾减灾救灾短板。
10月24日，十四届全国人大常委会第六次会议表决通过了全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于批准国务院增发国债和2023年中央预算调整方案的决议，明确了上述安排。
在25日上午的例行吹风会上，财政部表示，考虑到本次增发的国债是纳入到中央财政赤字管理，将采取公开发行方式发行，和已经确定的年度国债发行进行统筹安排。增发国债由中央承担还本付息，并将于今明两年安排使用，2023年安排使用5000亿元，结转2024年使用5000亿元。
据介绍，资金将重点用于八大方面：灾后恢复重建、重点防洪治理工程、自然灾害应急能力提升工程、其他重点防洪工程、灌区建设改造和重点水土流失治理工程、城市排水防涝能力提升行动、重点自然灾害综合防治体系建设工程、东北地区和京津冀受灾地区等高标准农田建设。
分析表示，本次增发国债，一方面意味着财政政策保民生持续发力，有助于弥补抗灾短板，切实增强我国抵御自然灾害的韧性；与此同时，这也将有效缓解地方政府财政收支压力，进一步优化财政支出结构，并使地方政府能够在今年底、明年初拿出更多财政资源稳增长。
财政部副部长朱忠明表示，这次增发2023年1万亿元国债以后，全国财政赤字将由3.88万亿元增加到4.88万亿元，预计财政赤字率将由3%提高到3.8%左右。
虽然今年的赤字率有小幅提高，但我国政府的负债率仍处于合理区间，整体风险可控。国债资金投入使用以后，也会积极带动国内的需求，进一步巩固我国经济回升向好的态势。关于国债发行方面，为加快预算支出的进度，促进经济恢复性增长，前期财政部在制定下半年国债发行计划时做了相关谋划，将原定年度国债的发行靠前安排，所以客观上也为后续增发国债留出了空间。
朱忠明说，此次增发的1万亿国债全部通过转移支付方式安排给地方使用，全部列为中央财政赤字，还本付息由中央承担，不增加地方偿还负担。
专家表示，当前增发国债超出市场预期，释放了政府稳定经济增长的信号。当前宏观经济形势总体持续恢复，但总需求不足、微观主体信心不振的问题依然存在，增发国债有利于加强基础设施建设，扩大总需求，为四季度和明年的经济运行打下良好基础。
下一步，财政部将及时启动国债发行工作，确保如期完成国债发行任务；做好预算下达工作，推动加快形成实物工作量；加强国债资金监管，确保资金按规定用途使用。
Greater Bay Area, Greater future
新使命，大未来
Next on industry and company news
产业及公司新闻
Earnings reports express
财报速递
Switching gears to financial news
金融市场消息
Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market
股市收盘情况
Biz Word of the Day
财经词汇划重点
Executive Editor: Sonia YU
Editor: LI Yanxia
Host: Stephanie LI
Writer: Stephanie LI
Sound Editor: Stephanie LI
Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni
Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
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