2000's Budgets Well Implemented: MinisterThe central and local budgets for 2000 were implemented fairly well and the deficit in the central budget was lower than the figure in the revised budget.This was remarked by Xiang Huaicheng, minister of finance, in his Report on the Central and Local Budgets for 2000 and the Draft Central and Local Budgets for 2001 on Tuesday, the second day of the Fourth Session of the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC). In his report, the minister revealed that the total revenue for the whole country in 2000 came to 1.338011 trillion yuan, 104.234 billion yuan more than the budgeted figure. Expenditures for the whole country totaled 1.587944 trillion yuan, 74.321 billion yuan more than the budgeted figure. According to the minister, through approval at the Seventeenth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress, the central budget for 2000 was revised to maintain and promote a positive momentum in economic recovery. An additional 50 billion yuan was allocated for construction, which added to the deficit in the central budget. The implementation of the central and local budgets in 2000 is as follows: total revenue in the central budget for 2000 came to 758. 433 billion yuan, or 68 billion yuan over the budgeted figure. Total expenditures in the central budget for 2000 amounted to 1. 018254 trillion yuan, an increase of 47.975 billion yuan over the figure in the revised budget. Central expenditures exceeded revenue, leaving a deficit of 259.821 billion yuan, 20.025 billion yuan less than 279.846 billion yuan, the deficit in the revised budget. Central revenue from generation of debt in 2000 totaled 418.01 billion yuan. This figure includes 157.358 billion yuan for servicing domestic and foreign debt, 259.821 billion yuan to clear up the deficit for 2000. Total revenue in the local budgets in 2000 came to 1.106217 trillion yuan, an increase of 62.835 billion yuan over the budgeted figure. This amount includes 639.397 billion yuan in revenue collected by local authorities, or 36.234 billion yuan over the budgeted figure, and 466.82 billion yuan in subsidies granted to local authorities by the central government, or 26.601 billion yuan over the budgeted figure. Total expenditures in the local budgets amounted to 1.096329 trillion yuan, or 52.947 billion yuan over the budgeted figure. This amount includes 1. 03651 trillion yuan for expenditures in the local budgets, or 52. 947 billion yuan over the budgeted figure, and 59.819 billion yuan turned over to the central government, the same as the budgeted figure. Total local revenue exceeded expenditures, leaving a surplus of 9.888 billion yuan. On the whole, the minister said, the implementation of the budget for 2000 was satisfactory, but there were still some problems. First, tax evasion and tax fraud are still serious problems, and financial indiscipline, such as falsification of account books and accounts, has not been rooted out despite repeated attempts. Second, due to the financial disparity between regions, some local authorities, especially county and township governments, experience financial difficulties. This is manifested in failure to pay wages and salaries to employees in administrative departments and institutions on time. Third, reform of the expenditure management system, including compilation of departmental budgets, has begun, but the work needs to be improved to make the budgets more accurate. The above- mentioned problems call for close attention, and they will be solved by accelerating economic growth, deepening financial reform, standardizing financial management and rectifying financial and economic order. |
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