China’s fiscal revenue growth slows in September

2018-10-18
Xinhua

BEIJING — China’s fiscal revenue growth slowed for two consecutive months amid the Chinese government’s efforts to cut taxes and fees, official data showed on Oct 18.

The country’s fiscal revenue rose 2 percent year-on-year to 1.3 trillion yuan ($187.4 billion) in September, slowing from a 4-percent gain in August, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The central government collected 591.9 billion yuan in fiscal revenue last month, up 0.9 percent year-on-year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue rise 2.9 percent to 704.4 billion yuan.

In the first nine months of the year, fiscal revenue went up 8.7 percent year-on-year to 14.6 trillion yuan, the data showed.

“The 2-percent growth is the lowest since the beginning of 2018,” said Yuan Haiyao, an official with the MOF, adding that tax and fee reduction not only reduces the cost of enterprises but also contributes to employment, economic transformation and upgrade, and domestic consumption.

The ministry is working on more measures to cut taxes and fees to further lower the financial burden of companies and boost the market, said Yuan.

With the combination of the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, the main economic goals are expected to be achieved smoothly, said Du Qiang, a senior official with the MOF.

Du estimated that China can reach its fiscal revenue targets set at the beginning of this year, with fiscal revenue growth slowing in the coming months.

The data released on Oct 18 also showed China’s fiscal spending expanded 11.7 percent year-on-year to 2.26 trillion yuan in September.

Fiscal spending in the January-September period rose 7.5 percent to 16.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 77.8 percent of the planned budget for the year.