China Shrinks Budget Deficit in Sign of Weak Fiscal Support
- Contracting deficit has been a drag on economy this year
- Government is now ramping up spending on infrastructure
This article is for subscribers only.
China’s budget deficit continued to contract so far this year, a sign of weak fiscal support for the economy despite a slowdown in growth.
The broadest measure of the fiscal gap — the so-called augmented deficit — was 4.28 trillion yuan ($590 billion) in the first eight months of this year, down 29% from the same period in 2022, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released by the Ministry of Finance on Friday.