China's special-purpose bonds to enhance funds management

China will frontload part of local government special-purpose bonds set for next year and enhance funds management and efficiency, as part of the efforts to sustain economic recovery, said Finance Minister Lan Fo'an in an interview with Xinhua News Agency published on Sunday.

Special-purpose bond is a well-regulated mechanism for local governments to secure financing, and plays an important role in driving the expansion of effective investment and promoting the overall recovery of the economy, Lan said.

Since the beginning of this year, the ministry has expedited the process of the special bond issuance, extended its investment areas as appropriate, promoted the construction of key projects, catalyzed the effective investment from the private sector, and helped generate more economic gains, Lan said.

In the first nine months, the new special-purpose bonds issued for project construction amounted to 3.3 trillion yuan ($451.9 billion), which played a positive role in solidifying the foundation, shoring up weak links, enhancing people's well-being and scaling up investment, and provided strong underpinning for the high-quality development of the economy and society, Lan added.

Going forward, the ministry will allow local governments to frontload part of their 2024 bond quota, to ensure that relevant policies for this year and the next will be aligned in a coordinated way and that their financing needs can be better met, Lan said.

Meanwhile, dedicated efforts will be made to improve funds management and efficacy, and guard against risks. Sound supervision and management throughout all links should be in place. Performance-based management should be strengthened to prevent the funds from staying idle, Lan added.

China's economy maintains an upward trend, which serves as a cornerstone for the growth of fiscal revenues and lays a solid foundation for the completion of budgetary targets for the year, Lan said.

In the first three quarters, the revenue in the national general public budget grew 8.9 percent year-on-year to 16.67 trillion yuan, while expenditure climbed 3.9 percent year-on-year to 19.79 trillion yuan, Lan said, noting that the execution of budgets was satisfactory.

In particular, the revenue in the national general public budget kept up the momentum of recovery and growth, which is in line with the sound economic activities, Lan said.

wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn