China-Singapore Jingwei client July 17th-The Ministry of Finance held a press conference on fiscal revenue and expenditure in the first half of 2020 on the 17th. Wang Kebing, a first-level inspector of the Budget Division, introduced that as of July 14, the new special bond funds have been spent 1.9 One trillion yuan, accounting for 85% of the issuance, of which 14 regions have more than 90% expenditure progress.
Wang Kebing, Inspector of the Budget Department, Source: Ministry of Finance website
A reporter questioned at the meeting: In order to deal with the impact of the epidemic, the scale of local government special bonds was further expanded this year. How about the issuance and use of special bonds in the first half of the year? How to prevent risks when promoting special debt?
Regarding the issuance and use of new local government special bonds, Wang Kebing said that after deliberation and approval by the National People's Congress, new special bonds will be arranged for 3.75 trillion yuan in 2020, an increase of 74.4% over the previous year. With the approval of the State Council, the new special bond quota was issued in advance in three batches of 2.29 trillion yuan; recently, the fourth batch of quota was just issued 1.26 trillion yuan. Since the beginning of this year, new special bond issuance has been in good use.
From the perspective of release: First, the release progress is fast. As of July 14th, new special bonds issued 2.24 trillion yuan across the country, accounting for 98% of the amount issued in advance, the scale increased by 58% year-on-year. Second, the issue rate is low before high. In the first three months, the average issuance rate has gradually decreased. Since April, the average issuance rate has rebounded significantly, and the interest rate difference is about 50 basis points. As of July 14, the average issuance rate was 3.36%. Third, long-term bonds accounted for 90%. As of July 14, the average issuance period was 15.6 years. Among them, the issuance of long-term bonds with a maturity of 10 years and above was 2.02 trillion yuan, accounting for 90%, an increase of 56 percentage points from the previous year, and the duration of special bonds was matched with the duration of project construction and operation.
In terms of usage: First, highlight the key points of support. The 2.24 trillion yuan of new special bonds issued have all been used in major infrastructure and people's livelihood services identified by the State Council Executive Meeting. Among them, it is used for transportation infrastructure, municipal and industrial parks, as well as education, medical care, elderly care and other people's livelihood services, 1.86 trillion yuan, accounting for 83%. The second is obvious driving effect. Around 220 billion yuan of special bonds in various places are used as capital for major projects that meet the requirements in the fields of railways, rail transit, agriculture, forestry, water conservancy, and ecological environmental protection, which is conducive to driving the expansion of effective investment. The third is to use structural optimization. In accordance with the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, all localities actively arranged special bond funds to support key areas such as "two new and one heavy", the construction of public health systems, and the transformation of old urban communities. A total of more than 900 billion yuan was arranged. Fourth, the expenditure progress has accelerated. As of July 14, the new special bond funds have been spent 1.9 trillion yuan, accounting for 85% of the issuance, of which 14 regions are spending more than 90%.
Regarding measures to prevent the risk of local government special bonds, Wang Kebing said that the Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with the characteristics of special bond management and local realities, strengthened the management of special bonds in all aspects from "borrowing, use, management, and repayment" and strictly guarded against the risks of statutory special bonds. In order not to loosen risk control due to the epidemic situation, we must firmly maintain the bottom line that no systemic risks occur.
One is strict disclosure of debt information. To play the role of a national unified local government debt information disclosure platform (WWW.CELMA.ORG.CN) established in accordance with the requirements of the central government, requiring local governments to publicly issue specific bond information corresponding to specific projects, and play a role in market self-regulation to promote regulation and disclosure Anti-risk.
The second is strictly the use of special bonds. Adhere to special bonds must be used for public welfare projects with a certain income, and insist on a balance between project income and financing. It is strictly forbidden to pay wages, unit operating expenses, pensions, interest payments, etc., and is strictly prohibited to replace debts and commercial operation of industrial projects and corporate subsidies.
The third is to strictly regulate fund management. Relying on the local government debt management information system, the use of special bonds is monitored through a whole process, and a sharing mechanism with relevant departments is gradually established. Authorized the Ministry of Finance Supervision Bureau to strengthen daily supervision and implement individual monitoring of each special bond project.
The fourth is to strictly implement debt repayment obligations. Provincial governments are responsible for the implementation of local territorial management responsibilities, and local governments at and below the provincial level bear their respective responsibilities. Take comprehensive measures to urge local governments, competent authorities, and units that use special bond funds to perform their respective debt-servicing responsibilities in accordance with the law and regulations to ensure that statutory special bonds do not present any risks. (Sino-Singapore Jingwei APP)