China's fiscal revenue weakened sharply in April, and the outlook for the rest of the year is grim with rising public spending and falling income, the finance ministry said.
In April, government fiscal income fell 13.6 percent from a year earlier to 589.7 billion yuan (86.3 billion dollars), accelerating downwards from March's 0.3 percent fall, the ministry said in a statement on its website Thursday.
"The further deterioration in revenues in April is mainly caused by lower receipts in the form of corporate income tax payments," the statement said.
Official data also showed that government spending in April surged 24.5 percent year-on-year to 507.8 billion yuan.
Part of the reason for this surge is Beijing's implementation of a 586-billion-dollar stimulus package late last year to boost domestic demand.
The government has also introduced various incentives to cushion the impact of the global meltdown, including increasing rebates for exporters, while lowering taxes on vehicles and housing purchases.
In the first four months, government fiscal revenue totalled 2.05 trillion yuan while spending reached 1.79 trillion yuan, leaving a fiscal surplus of 265 billion yuan from January to April.
However, spending has been restrained in the first few months of the year, and will rise sharply in the following months as the implementation of investment projects picks up steam, the statement said.
"As revenue falls and pressures for spending increase constantly… the full-year fiscal outlook is grim," the ministry said.
Premier Wen Jiabao said in a parliamentary meeting in early March that China expects a record budget deficit of 950 billion yuan in 2009.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
