Central gov't posts fiscal deficit of 800 bln yuan in 2010

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Finance Minister Xie Xuren said on Monday that the country's central government expenditures exceeded revenue in 2010, resulting in a fiscal deficit of 800 billion yuan (123.52 billion U.S. dollars), about 50 billion yuan less than the annual budget.

Xie revealed the figure in a report on last year's fiscal situation to the 21st session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature.

The central government's fiscal revenue hit nearly 4.26 trillion yuan last year, about 1.8 billion yuan more than the budgetary figure, according to Xie.

The government's total central fiscal expenditure reached nearly 5.06 trillion yuan, 830 million yuan more than the budgetary figure, Xie said.

The total central fiscal expenditure included about 1.6 trillion yuan of central government spending, and more than 3.23 trillion yuan of tax rebates and transfer payments to local governments, Xie said.

The outstanding national debt reached 6.75 trillion yuan at the end of last year, which was within the 7.12-trillion-yuan limit in the annual budget, he said.

The central fiscal spending on people's welfare stood at 892 billion yuan in 2010, an increase of 20.2 percent year-on-year, he said.

Of the total expenditure, about 72 billion yuan was forwarded to the education sector, nearly 7.36 billion channeled to the medical and health-care sector, 45.03 billion went to the social security and employment sector, and 38.65 billion yuan on building low-income housing, he said.

The central government also spent 857.97 billion yuan to boost agricultural production, subsidize farmers and purchase agricultural facilities and seeds, as well as to promote educational and health-care development in the rural areas, according to Xie.

The government will deepen fiscal system reform and promote the scientific and meticulous management of public finances, he said.

The central government will also tighten supervision on government expenditures for overseas travel, receptions and official cars by unveiling their budgets in a more detailed way to enhance transparency, he said.

Further, Xie said the government will continue its fight against "small coffers," which refer to funds, securities and assets that should be, but frequently are not, listed in account books in a bid to escape supervision.