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China's Fiscal Revenue Fell 13.6% in April
Summary:

China's fiscal revenue slumped 13.6%, over 92.7 billion yuan from a year earlier, to 589.7 billion yuan in April, China's Ministry of Finance reported on May 14.

The indicator has been in decline for four consecutive months, but April's fall is much steeper than the 0.3 percent drop in March and the 1.2 percent drop in February.

The ministry said the fiscal revenues in the first four months reached 2 trillion yuan, down 225.7 billion yuan, or 9.9%, on the same period last year.

The ministry attributed the decline in revenue over the first four months to three mains factors: the slide in business profits as economic growth slowed, tax cut schemes launched earlier in the year to spur the country's slowed economy and the effect of the downward trend in both the consumer price index (CPI) and the producer price index (PPI).

While revenues declined, the country's fiscal expenditures were rising, registering a year-on-year increase of 24.5% to 507.8 billion yuan in April, according to the ministry.

Total expenditure in the first four months was 31.7% higher than the same period last year, reaching a total of 1.78 trillion yuan.

The ministry explained that the surge was a result of its efforts to implement the central government's proactive fiscal policy. China launched a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package last November with spending being spread out over the next two years. 1.18 trillion yuan of this package is expected to come from central government coffers.

China still registered a fiscal surplus of 265 billion yuan through April, but the ministry indicated that the outlook for the rest of the year is grim, with an estimated annual budget deficit of 950 billion yuan this year.

Against this backdrop, the EO learned that the ministry is considering seeking to raise revenues by upping the sales tax on tobacco along with other products that either harm people's health or the environment.

In addition, sources from the ministry revealed to the EO that the ministry was contemplating making changes to the resource tax system.


Click to see the original statement from China's Ministry of Finance.
Treasury Revenue in April
Treasury Revenue in Quarter 1
 

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