In the first two months, more than 60% of the new bond quota issued in advance was completed——


　　Give full play to the leverage of special bonds

　　Since the beginning of this year, special-purpose bonds have made obvious progress.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Finance, in the first two months, 877.5 billion yuan of new special bonds were issued nationwide, completing more than 60% of the 1.46 trillion yuan of new special bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance ahead of schedule.

　　Experts said that under the situation that the domestic development is facing new challenges and the downward pressure on the economy is further increasing, the issuance of special bonds has accelerated, the investment direction has been optimized, and the leveraging effect of stabilizing growth and investment has been effectively exerted, which is a positive fiscal policy to improve the efficiency. important manifestation.

While making early issuance and quick use, all localities should pay attention to balancing the relationship between stable growth and risk prevention, manage and use bond funds well, and further escort economic growth.

Release pace quickened

　　Since the beginning of this year, all localities have actively responded to the requirements of "early, accurate and fast" issuance of special bonds, and promoted the early issuance, early use and early effect of special bonds, and the pace of issuance has been significantly accelerated.

　　On March 14, Anhui Province was represented by the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance through a public tender and successfully issued 30.82 billion yuan of local government bonds. So far, the issuance of local government bonds in Anhui Province in the first quarter has been completed, with a total of 68.94 billion yuan.

On March 16, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region successfully issued the third batch of local government bonds of 27.231 billion yuan in 2022, including new special bonds of 3.958 billion yuan, completing the task of issuing new bond quotas in Guangxi issued in advance by the Ministry of Finance.

　　Li Xuhong, director of the Institute of Fiscal and Taxation Policy and Application of Beijing National Accounting Institute, said that the issuance of special bonds has accelerated significantly this year, reflecting the further advance of the proactive fiscal policy, which will be well connected with the issuance peak in the fourth quarter of 2021 and effectively alleviate the early Stabilize the pressure of growth, so that funds can be invested in key areas such as transportation infrastructure and energy as soon as possible, and stimulate more effective investment.

　　"It is estimated that the issuance of local government bonds in the first quarter is about 1.5 trillion yuan, accounting for about 40% of the whole year." Wang Zecai, a researcher at the China Academy of Fiscal Sciences, said that compared with the previous year, the pace of special bond issuance has accelerated this year, and government bonds have been released ahead of schedule. Leverage leverages efficiency and avoids large fluctuations in economic growth throughout the year. It is an inevitable choice to balance stable growth and risk prevention, and is conducive to ensuring that the annual growth target is stable within a reasonable range.

　　Stricter supervision also promotes the accelerated issuance and use of special bonds.

"In response to issues such as the idleness of special bond funds, the Ministry of Finance requires all localities to report the actual use progress of special bonds on a monthly basis this year, and to implement early warning for areas with slow use progress, which will speed up the issuance and use of funds." Zhao, chief economist of Sinolink Securities Wei said that considering the delay in the issuance of special bonds last year, the issuance of special bonds in the last two months was close to 700 billion yuan, and the actual amount of funds available this year may increase.

　　Funds are in place in advance, which can better meet the capital needs of key project construction, form more physical workload, and avoid the occurrence of projects and other funds.

"This year, Sichuan's special bond project was planned early, the bond was issued early, and the project progress was fast." The relevant person in charge of the Sichuan Department of Finance introduced that this year's 91.4 billion yuan of new special bonds approved in advance in Sichuan Province were all issued in February. The project is speeding up the construction.

Investment is more optimized

　　According to the "Government Work Report", it is planned to arrange 3.65 trillion yuan of local government special bonds this year, which is the same as that in 2021.

　　"The amount of new special debt this year is basically the same as last year, which is a reflection of the quality and expansion of special debt." Li Xuhong said that at present, my country's finance is in a state of tight balance, and it is necessary to scientifically and reasonably determine the amount of special debt, and to control the total amount of special debt. At the same time, the allocation of quotas should be reasonably regulated to ensure financial sustainability and prevent potential financial risks.

　　In order to further improve the quality and efficiency of special debt funds and expand effective investment, the investment direction of special debt funds in 2022 will be more clarified and optimized, focusing on supporting infrastructure construction and other areas related to people's livelihood, and strictly regulating the negative list of investment directions.

　　Judging from the investment direction of special bond funds in various regions, infrastructure investment, affordable housing construction, urban renewal, and rural revitalization have become the focus.

For example, Liaoning Province recently issued 3.3 billion yuan of bonds to underwriters of 84 financial institutions across the country, mainly investing in urban pipeline network transformation, rural revitalization, central environmental protection inspection rectification, post-disaster infrastructure restoration and other urgently needed livelihood supplement projects.

　　Infrastructure investment becomes a top priority.

"In the first two months, the proportion of special bonds invested in infrastructure-related fields accounted for nearly 65%, an increase of about 10 percentage points from last year." Zhao Wei said that while strengthening support for infrastructure, special bonds also focused on industrial guidance, taking into account short-term demand hedging and Medium and long-term industrial transformation and upgrading.

In the first two months, 32% of the special bonds were invested in the supporting infrastructure of municipal and industrial parks. Among them, smart high-tech, biomedicine, new materials, green transformation, and digital economy have become key support areas.

　　The Ministry of Finance recently stated that the National People's Congress has approved the special debt limit for local governments in 2022, and the Ministry of Finance is stepping up efforts to calculate and allocate the quota by region.

In the next step, the Ministry of Finance will issue new local government debt limits in a timely manner after applying for approval in accordance with procedures, and continue to study policy measures to strengthen and improve local government debt management.

　　At the same time, Yunnan, Chongqing, Jilin and many other places have begun to disclose their local bond issuance plans for the second quarter.

"At present, the international economic situation is becoming more complex and severe. Accelerating the release of special bonds to stabilize investment and growth is crucial to stabilizing economic performance. It is expected that the issuance of special bonds will maintain a certain speed in the second and third quarters of this year, and the effect of boosting infrastructure investment will be further enhanced. Appearance." Wang Zecai said.

The prying effect is obvious

　　"Special bonds are an important policy tool to properly deal with the downward pressure on the economy and drive the growth of effective investment in fixed assets." Li Xuhong said that as an important source of infrastructure construction funds, special bonds can raise large-scale funds in a short period of time, and then invest and start public funds. After infrastructure construction projects, it will directly drive the growth of local fixed asset investment and play a role in stabilizing investment.

　　The effect of special bonds on infrastructure investment has already emerged.

The data shows that in the first two months of this year, national infrastructure investment increased by 8.1% year-on-year, 7.7 percentage points faster than that in 2021, the number of new projects invested in new projects increased by 1.1 times year-on-year, and the total planned investment in new projects increased by 62.8%. .

　　However, with the rapid increase in the scale of special bonds, some local special bond projects have insufficient reserves, idle bond funds, and non-compliant investment fields.

　　In this regard, Li Xuhong said that the current special debt problem is mainly reflected in project management. All localities should strengthen the pre-planning awareness of special debt issuance, coordinate the management of debt funds and project assets, do a solid job in the preliminary work of planning approval, and reasonably arrange the issuance of special bonds. allocated with the quota.

At the same time, strengthen the supervision of the whole process of "borrowing, using, managing, and repaying", realize the full life cycle management of special bonds, strengthen the standardized, efficient and safe use of bonds, avoid the "universal" use of special debt funds, and ensure that special bonds are " Specialized"-based.

In addition, it is necessary to improve performance evaluation, improve performance management, strictly measure the income of special debt projects, and urge local governments to spend their funds "on the edge."

　　"Special bond projects have the characteristics of large investment, long term and slow effect. It is very important to carry out full life cycle management of special bond projects and continuously improve the efficiency of capital use." Wang Zecai believes that, first of all, it is necessary to improve the fineness of local project identification, Accuracy, speed up the rhythm of special bond issuance, promote the formation of physical workload as soon as possible, and avoid bond funds being idle or deposited in the treasury.

Secondly, blockchain technology can be used to implement penetrating dynamic monitoring of special debt projects, strengthen the supervision of debt limit compliance, and consolidate the management responsibilities of each participant.

Finally, we can explore the establishment and improvement of a debt risk assessment and early warning system with comprehensive debt ratio as the leading factor and debt repayment fund guarantee multiple and interest expense ratio as auxiliary indicators, standardize the performance evaluation of government and social capital cooperation projects, and resolutely curb the construction risks and risks of bond projects. operational risk.

(Economic Daily reporter Li Hualin)