China's Fiscal Revenue Shrank 2.7% in Jan-April Amid Shaky Economic Recovery

• China's fiscal revenue slipped 2.7% in the first four months of 2024 from a year earlier, after a 2.3% slide in the January-March period, in a further sign of an uneven economic recovery. According to finance ministry data released on Monday, fiscal expenditure rose 3.5% in the first four months versus a 2.9% gain in the first quarter.
• For April alone, fiscal revenue fell 3.7% against a 2.4% decline in March, while fiscal spending was up 6.1%, compared with March's 2.9% fall, according to Reuters' calculations based on the ministry data. The ministry said that excluding factors such as last year's high base and tax cut policies, fiscal revenue in the first four months grew 2%.
• China has set an ambitious economic growth target of around 5% for this year, which many analysts say will be a challenge to meet as prolonged weakness in the property sector and tepid consumer demand remain a drag on the economy.
• Factory output topped forecasts in April, helped by improving external demand, but retail sales unexpectedly slowed, and the property sector remained a key drag on the economy, piling pressure on Beijing to do more to support growth.
• The expansion of outstanding total social financing (TSF), a broad measure of credit and liquidity, hit a record low of 8.3% in April amid lagging government bond issuance. On Friday, China unveiled "historic" property easing measures, and the finance ministry kicked off the issuance of 1 trillion yuan in long-dated special treasury bonds to stimulate key sectors of the economy.

(Source: Reuters)