BEIJING/HONG KONG, Oct 9 (Reuters) – China allocated 550 billion yuan ($82 billion) in unused government debt quotas on Friday to support local government finances and expand infrastructure investment, as it boosts support for an economy battling weak consumption and investment.
The step followed a run of soft economic readings that piled pressure on efforts to attain this year’s growth target of 4.5% to 5%.
Momentum has faltered after the first quarter as tepid domestic demand and a prolonged property downturn offset a boom in high-tech sectors and goods exports.
Of Friday’s debt quota, 300 billion yuan is earmarked for supporting the daily operations of county-level and district-level governments, the finance ministry said in a statement.
The rest of the proceeds will fund infrastructure projects, especially those being built, and in economically stronger regions.
China’s State Council, or cabinet, pledged last month to step up counter-cyclical policy support to tackle rising economic strain and achieve this year’s economic and social development targets.
Policymakers had similarly tapped unused government debt quotas as a year-end fiscal push in the past two years, but this year’s figure exceeds those of 2024 and 2025.
In another statement, the finance ministry vowed to “vigorously and effectively” implement a more proactive fiscal policy and support expansion of domestic demand.
($1=6.6923 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by the Tian Lanqin, Qiaoyi Li, Farah Master and Yukun Zhang; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez)
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