Wages Must Be Paid on Time for Stability: Minister

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 06, 2002

Wages Must Be Paid on Time for Stability: Minister

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Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng said Wednesday that accelerating the establishment of a social security system is of great significance to guaranteeing the basic living standards of urban residents with low incomes, promoting the reform of state-owned enterprises and maintaining social stability.

Xiang made the remark in the Report on the Implementation of the Central and Local Budgets for 2001 and on the Draft Central and Local Budgets for 2002 he delivered at the on-going session of the National People's Congress.

According to the minister, in 2002, a total of 86 billion yuan for social security programs will be earmarked in the central budget (an increase of 28 percent over the figure of 2001, calculated on comparable terms).

To solve the problem of basic living allowances for urban residents with low incomes, the State Council has decided to increase subsidies from the central budget to their subsistence allowances from 2.3 billion yuan in 2001 to 4.6 billion yuan in 2002.

In view of increased expenditures for the basic pensions of retirees of state-owned enterprises and the number of laid-off workers in 2001, a total of 51.2 billion yuan from the central budget will be allocated to subsidize pensions for retirees of state-owned enterprises and living allowances for their laid-off workers in 2002.

In addition, a total of 11 billion yuan of subsidies for shutdown and bankruptcy of enterprises will be earmarked in the central budget for 2002 to promote economic restructuring and support the shutdown and bankruptcy of some state-owned enterprises in accordance with the law.

A total of 9.6 billion yuan for benefits for some disabled servicemen and family members of revolutionary martyrs and for social welfare and relief funds will also be earmarked in the central budget.

The minister asked local financial departments at all levels to conscientiously implement the policies formulated by the central authorities and allocate more funds in their budgets for payment of social security benefits.

He stressed that it is the responsibility of governments and financial departments at all levels to ensure that employees in government departments and institutions are paid on time and in full.

"As required by the central authorities, we will continue to appropriately increase the basic wages of employees in government departments and institutions and the pensions of their retirees in 2002," Xiang said. Special expenditures in the central budget will be increased by 11.8 billion yuan, including 9.5 billion yuan for subsidies to local governments.

To help local governments overcome the financial difficulties of departments at lower levels, the central government will further increase transfer payments, transfer more funds as salaries and allocate funds to help local governments solve the problem of seasonal occurrence of overdue salaries in local government departments.

Funds in the form of salaries transferred from the central budget for 2002 total 118 billion yuan. These funds will be mainly used to subsidize county and township governments.

Local financial departments also need to further improve their financial system and particularly increase transfer payments to governments below the provincial level in an earnest effort to help counties and townships in financial straits solve the problem of overdue wages.

Xiang said financial departments at lower levels need to prepare their budgets rationally and first of all use their funds to pay wages as prescribed by the central government.

The government will continue to improve the way financial departments pay the wages of public servants in Party and government departments and to turn over responsibility for paying the salaries of teachers of rural primary and secondary schools to financial departments at the county level.

He said that the government will gradually establish a mechanism to ensure normal payment of wages, accelerate changes in the functions of counties and townships, truly streamline the administrative structure, reduce the number of personnel and create conditions for fundamentally overcoming financial difficulties in counties and townships.

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