The latest "national ledger" is released. On February 1, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the fiscal revenue and expenditure for 2023. It was introduced at the meeting that the national general public budget revenue in 2023 exceeded 21 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.4%, and all 31 provinces in the country achieved fiscal revenue. Positive growth. In 2024, to support economic recovery, the financial department will focus on expanding domestic demand, mainly from the two aspects of investment and consumption. At the same time, it will also focus on supporting the acceleration of the construction of a modern industrial system.
Relevant analyzes pointed out that this means that the government will pay more attention to investing in areas that can improve economic efficiency and productivity, and focus on the sustainability of investment to avoid over-investment and waste. Entering the new year, fiscal policy should also focus on long-term effects and Structural optimization, focusing on fairness and sustainability, can coordinate with other policy tools such as monetary policy to form a synergy and improve policy effects.
Restorative growth of fiscal revenue
On February 1, Wang Dongwei, Vice Minister of Finance, introduced at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on the fiscal revenue and expenditure for 2023 that benefiting from the economic rebound and the implementation of large-scale value-added tax refunds in 2022. Affected by factors such as a low base, fiscal revenue will show restorative growth in 2023. The national general public budget revenue exceeded 21 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.4%. From a local perspective, the income of the eastern, central, western and northeastern regions increased by 6.7%, 6.9%, 10.7% and 12% respectively, and all 31 provinces in the country achieved positive growth in fiscal revenue.
At the same time, from the perspective of expenditure, fiscal expenditure continues to increase. According to Wang Dongwei, at the beginning of 2023, the fiscal deficit rate will be arranged at 3%. In order to support post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and enhance disaster prevention, reduction and relief capabilities, an additional 1 trillion yuan of government bonds were issued in the fourth quarter, all of which were arranged to local governments through transfer payments. The national general public budget expenditure will reach 27.46 trillion yuan in 2023, an increase of 5.4%. Key areas have strong guarantees. Social security and employment expenditures increased by 8.9%, education expenditures increased by 4.5%, science and technology expenditures increased by 7.9%, agriculture, forestry and water expenditures increased by 6.5%, and urban and rural community expenditures increased by 5.7%.
In addition, tax and fee reduction policies continue to be optimized and improved. At the beginning of 2023, it was clarified to continue and optimize some tax policies. In the second half of the year, based on changes in the economic situation, a batch of expired tax policies will be continued, optimized, and improved to further reduce the tax burden on business entities and accurately support manufacturing and other entities. High-quality economic development. The scale of new tax cuts and fee reductions and tax rebates and fee deferrals nationwide exceeded 2.2 trillion yuan throughout the year.
Specifically, according to Wang Jianfan, director of the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, according to relevant department data, among the new tax cuts and fee reductions and tax refund and fee deferrals nationwide in 2023, the new tax cuts and fee reductions will be approximately 1.57 trillion yuan. The amount of excess tax refund processed is approximately 650 billion yuan. From an industry perspective, the manufacturing and related wholesale and retail industries have added nearly 950 billion yuan in tax cuts, fee reductions and tax rebates and deferrals, accounting for 42.6% of the total scale. This is the industry that enjoys the highest proportion of tax preferential treatment. Judging from the scale of enterprises, the scale of new tax cuts and fee reductions and tax rebates and fee deferrals for small, medium and micro enterprises is about 1.43 trillion yuan, accounting for 64%, and they are the most obvious beneficiaries.
Stimulate potential consumption
To support economic recovery, how will fiscal policy in 2024 be "appropriately strengthened, improve quality and efficiency"? Regarding the key tasks in 2024, it was revealed at the meeting that efforts will be made to expand domestic demand. Mainly from two aspects: investment and consumption.
Wang Dongwei introduced that from an investment perspective, we need to expand profitable investment. This year we will make good use of relevant treasury bond funds, continue to arrange a certain scale of local government special bonds, appropriately increase the scale of investment within the central budget, and give full play to the driving and amplifying effect of government investment.
Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told a reporter from the Beijing Business Daily that "expanding effective investment" means that the government will pay more attention to the quality and effectiveness of investment, not just the quantity. "This means that the government will pay more attention to investing in areas that can improve economic efficiency and productivity, such as infrastructure construction, technological innovation, environmental protection and other fields. At the same time, the government will also focus on the sustainability of investment and avoid over-investment and waste." Wang Peng said.
Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, also pointed out to the Beijing Business Daily reporter that this means that when making investment decisions, we must not only pay attention to the scale of investment, but also pay attention to the rate of return on investment. "This requires the government to screen and guide investment projects to ensure that investment can drive economic growth and improve social welfare." Bai Wenxi believes that expanding effective investment will help optimize the industrial structure and improve production capacity utilization, thereby realizing economic growth. high-quality development.
At the same time, in terms of consumption, according to Wang Dongwei, consumption with potential must be stimulated. In 2024, we will focus on the direction of upgrading residents' consumption, promote the expansion of new growth points such as culture, tourism, education, and elderly care, increase social security, transfer payments and other adjustments, increase the income of urban and rural residents, and improve their willingness and ability to consume.
Bai Wenxi believes that in terms of investment and consumption, relevant departments will also need to pay attention to the trend of consumption upgrading, promote the development of industries such as cultural tourism, and meet the diversified consumption needs of the people. At the same time, promote the development of emerging fields such as the digital economy and green economy. , Cultivate new economic growth points.
Cultivate new industry tracks
The modern industrial system is the material and technological foundation of a modern country. In addition to expanding domestic demand, in 2024, the financial department will also focus on supporting the acceleration of the construction of a modern industrial system.
In 2023, the central government has taken a series of measures, including introducing a policy of additional value-added tax deductions for advanced manufacturing enterprises, and accelerating the promotion of key technologies and key industries to make up for shortcomings. At the same time, the financial reward and subsidy policy for "specialized, specialized, special and new" small and medium-sized enterprises will continue to be implemented. By the end of 2023, more than 12,000 national-level "little giant" enterprises that specialize, specialize, and new will be cultivated. In addition, we will accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and arrange 3 billion yuan to support the launch of urban pilot projects for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises. The first batch of 30 pilot cities will be selected to guide local governments to strengthen policy coordination and promote the in-depth integration of the digital economy and the real economy.
Entering 2024, according to Wang Dongwei, on the one hand, policy tools such as fiscal subsidies, loan discounts, and tax incentives will be used to focus on key industrial chains such as new generation information technology and integrated circuits to promote the solution of basic products, core technologies, and key software. Difficulties and blocking problems in other aspects. On the other hand, it is necessary to give full play to the guiding role of government investment funds such as the Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading Fund and the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Investment Fund, guide social capital to invest in key manufacturing areas in a market-oriented manner, and cultivate new industry tracks.
In addition, the financial department will focus on continuing to implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, supporting the protection and improvement of people's livelihood, supporting the promotion of comprehensive rural revitalization, promoting urban and rural regional development, and strengthening the construction of ecological civilization.
In Wang Peng's view, there is more content worthy of attention when it comes to using fiscal policy to support economic recovery. "Through the comprehensive use of various policy tools, policy synergy will be formed, policy effects will be improved, and economic recovery will be accelerated."
Beijing Business Daily reporter Fang Binnan Ran Lili