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Fiscal expenditure grew 2.5 per cent in the January-July period. (Photo: Reuters)
China’s fiscal revenue fell 2.6 per cent in the first seven months of 2024 from a year earlier, narrowing slightly from a 2.8 per cent slide in the first half, finance ministry data showed on Monday, as the economy struggles for a pick-up in growth.
Fiscal expenditure grew 2.5 per cent in the January-July period, versus a 2 per cent increase in the first half.
For July alone, fiscal revenue fell 1.9 per cent on year, narrowing from a 2.6 per cent decline in June, while fiscal spending jumped 6.6 per cent, compared with a 3 per cent fall in June, according to Reuters’ calculations based on the ministry’s data.
Fiscal revenue has been running at low levels, partly due to a high base last year, state media reported, citing the finance ministry.
The ministry said in a statement that macro-policy implementation in the coming months and the fading year-earlier effects will “underpin fiscal revenue growth.” It also expected fiscal spending to steadily rise.
July economic data, including a fall in household loans and a slowdown in industrial output growth, points to underlying demand weakness and the need for bolder stimulus measures, analysts have said.
China’s leaders signalled at a key policy meeting at the end of July that fiscal support for the rest of the year will “focus on consumption”, days after they unveiled plans to support trade-ins for consumer goods.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Aug 26 2024 | 9:07 AM IST
