Enough room to roll out new fiscal policies

China will introduce a package of targeted incremental fiscal policy measures in the near future to boost the economy, Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an told a news conference in Beijing on Saturday.

The package includes increasing the debt ceiling on a relatively large scale in a lump sum to replace existing hidden debts of local governments and help defuse their debt risks.

The countercyclical adjustment involves not just policies that are already going through relevant decision-making procedures but also other policy tools in consideration, such as debt issuance and deficit rise.

For the property market, the country will apply a set of fiscal policy tools including local government special-purpose bonds, special funds and taxation policies to help stabilize the sector.

The government will also issue special treasury bonds to support large State-owned commercial banks in replenishing the core tier-1 capital, according to Lan. The move is aimed at enhancing banks' risk resilience and lending capacity to help boost the real economy.

China's fiscal system is resilient enough to achieve a balance between revenue and expenditure and meet the annual budget target by taking comprehensive measures.

The government should also increase support for key groups, provide more living allowances to the people in need, and increase the number of awards and assistance to jobless college and vocational school graduates, so as to further improve the overall consumption capacity of society.

China's retail sales grew only modestly over the last few months, and the country's real estate slump has shown few signs of turning around.

That Minister Lan noted that other policy tools are also being studied, as the central government still has large debt and deficit room, indicates more well-targeted bailout packages are going to be unveiled in the foreseeable future, if necessary, to release more liquidity for the benefit of some needy sectors and groups of people.

-XINHUA NEWS AGENCY