The Chinese government will deliver on its commitment to spend 1.18 trillion yuan ($173 billion) before the end of 2010, the core of the country's stimulus package, a deputy finance minister said today.
The central government has pledged that amount out of its own pocket to support the overall 4 trillion yuan stimulus programme, credited with helping the world's third-largest economy recover from the impact of global financial turmoil.
The promise not to pull back could serve to reassure markets hit by concerns over tightening in the property sector and worries that tougher lending practices could slow growth from the 8.9% annual pace in the third quarter.
Deputy Finance Minister Zhang Shaochun said that actual spending in 2009 would slightly exceed the originally planned 487.5 billion yuan, after it doled out 104 billion yuan for the stimulus package in late 2008.
That could mean somewhat less than 588.5 billion yuan gets spent next year, as originally earmarked, but the overall amount of spending from central coffers would remain the same, he said.
Beijing has said it would maintain its proactive fiscal policy and appropriately loose monetary policy stance in 2010, something Zhang reiterated.
The need to keep government investment at a high level was underlined by a government work group that oversees the stimulus spending.
Beijing is on track to achieve its budget targets this year, Zhang added. The central government has been aiming for a fiscal deficit of 950 billion yuan, or roughly 3% of gross domestic product.
