China’s Budget Spending Drops as Land Sales See Record Fall
- Broad budget spending is down 2% in first seven months of 2024
- Calls are intensifying for Beijing to add stimulus for economy
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China’s broad budget expenditure contracted and income from land sales for local governments fell at a record pace, a sign of fiscal weakness that may further increase calls on Beijing to add stimulus to support the $17 trillion economy.
The combined spending in the general public budget and the government fund account was about 19.7 trillion yuan ($2.8 trillion) in the first seven months of the year, down 2% from the same point in 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released by the Ministry of Finance on Monday.