Long-term focus again for government spending

In the first half of the year, the national general public budget expenditures increased by 4.5 percent year-on-year, of which the central level expenditures declined by 6.9 percent and those of the local level increased by 6.4 percent. The drop in the central expenditures reflects the tightening by the central government.

Education, social security and employment and public health are the three sectors that saw the fastest growth in government expenditure, rising 10.1 percent, 8.2 percent and 3.8 percent respectively.

That means governments of various levels regard people's livelihoods and basic public services as the foundation for social stability, and key indicators of the efficiency of the State governing system and capacity.

The situation this year is more favorable to boosting growth than it was last year. So the government's spending is gradually returning to normal, and more attention will be paid to the long-term effects of government spending rather than coping with the impacts of the pandemic.

The economic and geopolitical uncertainties will continue to keep the policymakers on the alert to the possible harm they may inflict on the development of the country, so the government will continue to reserve enough ammunition and space to implement special policies when needed.

The robust and predictable growth of the economy in the first half of the year lays a sound foundation for the government to spend public money on projects as planned.

The floods in Henan province are a test of the country's ability to deal with emergencies caused by extreme weather events, which look set to become more frequent and more severe in the foreseeable future. This should serve to prompt the government to tilt more of its expenditures to disaster-resistance infrastructural facility construction.

The government should continue to increase its input in rural vitalization, and carry out supporting policies to attract more investment and talents to the countryside, so as to shorten the urban-rural development gap. The villages not only need new houses but also good schools and jobs so that they are not going to be hollowed out by the urbanization of the country.

The optimization of the fiscal expenditure structure will lead to good governance. Only by adapting to the modernization requirements of the national governance system and governance capabilities, and forming a standardized relationship between the government, market and society, can fiscal policy and national governance benignly interact.

21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD