China Dials Back Budget Spending by Most in Over Four Years

China’s broad fiscal spending slumped in October by the most since at least 2021, crippling a key driver of investment and economic growth.

The combined expenditure in China’s two main budgets — the general public account and the government-managed fund book — tumbled 19% in October from a year earlier to 2.37 trillion yuan ($334 billion), according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released by the Ministry of Finance on Monday.