BEIJING- China’s fiscal revenue growth accelerated in January-June from the first five months, the finance ministry said on Thursday, as the economy showed signs of a slow recovery in June after earlier lockdown-induced disruptions.
Fiscal revenues in the first half rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier, excluding the impact of value-added tax (VAT) credit rebates, quicker than a 2.9 percent rise in January-May, XueXiaoqian, an official at the finance ministry said during a press conference in Beijing.
Fiscal revenue in June alone grew 5.3 percent from a year earlier after adjusting for VAT credit rebates.
Xue said China’s fiscal revenues were expected to steadily rebound in the second half of this year as the economy improves.
Revenues from government land sales shrank 40.01 percent in June alone, according to Reuters’ calculations based on official data, widening from a 24.03 percent slump in May amid a property market downturn.
Fiscal revenues totaled 10.52 trillion yuan ($1.56 trillion) in the first half, in addition to 1.84 trillion yuan of VAT credit rebates.
Fiscal spending reached 12.89 trillion yuan in the first half, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier.
China has unveiled a raft of economic support measures in recent months, including issuing local government special bonds for infrastructure projects more quickly, to help revive an economy hurt by extensive lockdowns that began in late March.
Chinese local governments issued a net 3.41 trillion yuan of special bonds by end of June, a second ministry official Song Qichao said at the same press conference, part of a 2022 special bond quota of 3.65 trillion yuan. – Reuters
