Recently, the executive meeting of the State Council made arrangements to make good use of the local balance limit of more than 500 billion yuan of special bonds in accordance with the law, and the issuance will be completed before the end of October. What achievements have
achieved in the issuance and use of special bonds this year? Why revitalize the balance limit of local government special bonds? In which areas is the incremental capital of more than 500 billion yuan invested?
Play the role of expanding demand Since this year, my country's economy has faced certain downward pressure due to the shock of unexpected factors, and macro policies are required to actively act in expanding demand. The Politburo meeting held at the end of July called for making good use of local government special bond funds and supporting local governments to make full use of the special debt limit. Since then, the State Council executive meeting has made specific arrangements for many times.
" The special debt balance limit is the part of the special debt balance that is less than the limit , mainly because local governments have strengthened fiscal revenue and expenditure management, arranged fiscal funds to repay the due special bonds, and reduced the special debt balance to control the level of debt risks. limit space," said Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Owen Han.
"Using the special debt balance limit will help the special debt continue to exert its strength, stimulate effective investment, and consolidate the foundation for economic recovery and development. This year, the special debt is ahead of schedule, and the progress is at least 3 months earlier than in previous years. , both strong and stable The macro-economy has been improved, and it has won a time window for strengthening counter-cyclical adjustment and launching the special debt incremental policy in the second half of the year." said Ji Fuxing, a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Bai Yanfeng, Dean of the School of Finance and Taxation, Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that considering that the economic operation has been impacted by unexpected factors this year, and the fiscal revenue and expenditure situation is relatively severe, making good use of the special debt balance limit in accordance with the law can give full play to the counter-cyclical adjustment of macro policies role, hedges the downward pressure on the economy.
"The current special debt has quota space, corresponding project reserves, and implementation conditions and time, which can continue to play a key role in stimulating effective investment and benefiting people's livelihood. This special debt balance limit policy can fill the special debt after September. The 'empty window period' of exertion will help to form a rolling continuation of investment in the second half of the year." Ji Fuxing said. The executive meeting of the State Council held on September 7 proposed that the limit of more than 500 billion yuan of special debts accumulated by local governments since 2019 should be revitalized in accordance with the law, 70% of which will be retained by local governments, and 30% of which will be allocated by the central government and allocated to mature projects. The region is inclined, and requires all regions to complete the issuance of before the end of October, give priority to supporting projects under construction, and form more physical workloads during the year. Why does
set a limit on the balance of special debts, why does implement some of them for local use, and some of them are allocated by the central finance?
Bai Yanfeng analyzed that this is mainly due to the different economic and social development conditions in different places. In areas with great economic development potential and sufficient project reserves, there is often a situation of "projects waiting for money"; while some underdeveloped areas are prone to "money and other projects" due to insufficient project reserves and other reasons.
"The allocation of special debt quotas this time is tilted towards areas with many mature projects, which will help large economic provinces to shoulder heavy burdens and strive for the best results of economic and social development throughout the year, taking into account the fairness and efficiency between regions." Bai Yanfeng said.
Although the total amount of local government special bond balance limit is relatively large, the geographical distribution of balance limit is uneven.
"On the basis of fully considering factors such as financial resources, debt risk levels, project quality and construction conditions, make overall arrangements and allocate quotas reasonably. The allocation of special debt quotas should not simply be divided into local areas, 30% of which is allocated by the central government as a whole, and By leaning towards areas with many mature projects, we can allow areas with strong financial strength, large debt space, and many key projects, or areas with high project quality and good implementation conditions, to issue more bonds to ensure that the projects will be implemented as soon as possible." Ji Fuxing said.
Jifuxing further analyzed that the construction period in the second half of the year is short in some regions, and the debt risks and project maturity vary from place to place. "Therefore, at present, it is necessary to reserve policy space, pay attention to the synergy of various policies to expand effective investment, rationally make good use of the special debt balance limit, balance the relationship between development promotion, risk prevention, and project implementation conditions, and strengthen performance-oriented and investment-driven effects. , leaving no hidden risks." Make good use of the special debt balance limit, from the issuance and use schedule, the time is tight and the task is heavy.
"According to the Politburo meeting and state affairsAccording to the arrangement of the executive meeting of the hospital, the Ministry of Finance plans to guide local governments to make good use of the special debt balance limit of more than 500 billion yuan in accordance with the law, issue new special bonds to support the construction of major projects, support qualified provinces to complete the expected economic and social development goals, and consolidate the economic recovery. situation. "Owenhan said. The key support areas have made it clear that the investment direction of more than 500 billion yuan of special bonds has attracted great attention. The Ministry of Finance revealed that the general consideration is to focus on supporting transportation infrastructure, energy, agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, ecology, etc. through the issuance of new special bonds. Environmental protection, social undertakings, urban and rural cold chain and other logistics infrastructure, municipal and industrial park infrastructure, major national strategic projects, affordable housing projects, and construction of new energy projects and new infrastructure projects. Properly expand the investment of special bond funds , which is conducive to further meeting the needs of local governments for project construction and improving the quality of project reserves." On the basis of 's current focus on supporting nine fields such as transportation infrastructure, as well as new energy and new infrastructure, it can also further support public welfare projects with certain benefits. Expand and enrich the local project reserve . Jifuxing believes that the use of
special bonds as project capital is conducive to giving full play to the leverage and leverage. Owenhan said that he will actively study and appropriately expand the investment fields of special bond funds and expand the scope of special bonds used as project capital. , to better play the role of special bonds in stimulating effective investment.
Ji Fuxing suggested that it may be considered to allow the capital of special bonds for major projects to be further expanded from the current ten major areas such as railways, toll roads, and water conservancy, such as new energy, national-level industries. In the key project areas of local concern, such as the infrastructure of the park, we will effectively solve the problem of the shortage of local government capital. The National Development and Reform Commission has organized local submissions and screening to form a list of a new batch of preparatory projects this year. In addition, there are some projects that have not yet been arranged in the preparatory project list this year, which can generally meet the issuance needs of more than 500 billion yuan of quota stocks.
Bai Yanfeng believes that the next "golden nine and silver ten" of is the golden window period for project construction, and funds should be used as soon as possible to create favorable conditions for the realization of physical workload within the year. The development financial instruments have already fallen on the basis of the project, and the quota will be increased by more than 300 billion yuan.
"Special bonds should focus on forming a combined effect with other continuous policies, focusing on policy development financial instruments, policy credit, and commercial credit. We need to form policy synergy, and give better play to the comprehensive effects of expanding investment, creating employment, and promoting consumption. Policy-based development financial instruments are used to supplement the capital of major projects or bridge the capital of special-purpose debt projects, and superimposed with policy-based credit, bank credit and other supporting policies, which can better synergize with special-purpose debt to stimulate effective investment. said Ji Fuxing.
