Economics
China’s Unspent Stimulus Pile Primed to Fuel Economic Recovery
- China is selling a record amount of debt to pay for stimulus
- Government funds on deposit hit record due to slower spending
Photographer: Xaume Olleros/Bloomberg
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China’s government has amassed trillions of yuan in unspent money, handing it fiscal firepower to stimulate an economic recovery that’s already leading the world’s rebound from the Covid-19 shock.
The government is selling a record amount of bonds this year to pay for stimulus, but it’s finding it hard to find projects that can be started quickly and also generate necessary returns. As a result, the deposits of all levels of government swelled to 4.8 trillion yuan ($710 billion) at the end of August.