What are the next focus of work and provide detailed data on the implementation of fiscal policies in the first half of the year | economy | fiscal policies

Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese economy has shown a recovery trend, but the foundation is still not solid, especially since April, the downward pressure on the economy has increased. Therefore, the implementation of proactive fiscal policies that shoulder the responsibility of stabilizing growth has received much attention.

So, how is the implementation of fiscal policies in the first half of this year?

From the currently disclosed fiscal revenue and expenditure data, the overall budget execution is good. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, the national general public budget revenue slightly declined in the first two months of this year, turned positive in March, and was affected by factors such as large-scale value-added tax retention and refund in the same period last year in April and May, resulting in a lower base and rapid income growth. The Ministry of Finance predicts that the growth rate of fiscal revenue will remain at a relatively high level throughout the second quarter.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, the cumulative national general public budget revenue from January to May was 9969.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%.

However, if the factor of retained tax refunds is deducted, the growth rate of this income will decrease to single digits, which is similar to the economic growth rate. Due to the weakening of some economic indicators since April, the growth of fiscal revenue in May also slowed down significantly.

In addition, the land sales revenue, which local finance heavily relies on, has remained sluggish this year after a significant decline last year. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, the cumulative national government fund budget revenue from January to May was 1865.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 15%. Among them, the revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights in local funds was 1489.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 20%.

In order to ensure people's livelihoods and stabilize the economy, fiscal expenditure has maintained a certain level of intensity since the beginning of this year, and the structure of fiscal expenditure has been optimized, increasing support for basic livelihood, scientific and technological research, and other areas.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, in the first five months of this year, the national general public budget expenditure was 10482.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. Among them, the growth rate of expenditures directly related to people's livelihood, such as education, social security, employment, health, and science and technology, is higher than the average growth rate.

However, due to the slowdown in actual income growth, the growth rate of fiscal expenditure in the second quarter has also slightly slowed down. Among them, due to the decline in land transfer income and other factors, there was a significant decline in national government fund expenditures in the first five months.

In order to hedge against the downward pressure on the economy and prevent the risk of local government debt, local government bonds have generally maintained a relatively fast issuance since the beginning of this year.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance and public bond issuance, as of June 28th, local government bonds issued nationwide amounted to approximately 4.2 trillion yuan, of which approximately 2.6 trillion yuan were newly issued bonds. The issuance progress has exceeded half, supporting the construction of major infrastructure projects such as people's livelihoods and driving the expansion of effective investment; The issuance of approximately 1.6 trillion yuan of refinancing bonds has eased the pressure on local debt repayment.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, infrastructure investment increased by 7.5% year-on-year in the first five months of this year. Supported by local government bonds and other funds, overall infrastructure investment has maintained a rapid growth since the beginning of this year.

Due to the significant pressure of stable growth last year, the progress of local bond issuance was faster, and the issuance of new bonds was basically completed in the first half of the year. Therefore, compared to last year, the progress of new bond issuance this year is relatively slow.

In order to help enterprises alleviate difficulties, another important measure of this year's proactive fiscal policy is to improve tax and fee measures and continue to reduce the burden on enterprises. According to the relevant policies already introduced this year, it is expected to reduce the burden on business entities by about 1.2 trillion yuan throughout the year.

According to data released by the State Administration of Taxation, from January to April this year, a total of 468.9 billion yuan in new tax reductions and deferred tax refunds were added nationwide, benefiting the private economy, especially small and micro enterprises, effectively reducing the burden on operating entities.

In order to support the "three guarantees" at the grassroots level and promote regional balanced development, the total amount of central government transfer payments of 10.06 trillion yuan this year is being urgently issued to local governments. The direct financial funds are quickly allocated for use, benefiting enterprises and the people.

Recently, Minister of Finance Liu Kun delivered a report on the central final accounts for 2022. He stated that the next step will be to focus on six tasks: to enhance efficiency and implement proactive fiscal policies, strengthen expenditure guarantees in key areas, secure the bottom line of grassroots "three guarantees", effectively prevent and resolve local government debt risks, increase financial and accounting supervision, and solidly carry out audit rectification in the second half of the article.