China News Service, Beijing, April 7 (Reporter Zhao Jianhua) Owen Han, Assistant Minister of Finance of China, introduced in Beijing on the 7th that as of the end of 2020, the balance of local government debt is 25.66 trillion yuan (RMB, the same below), which is controlled by the National People's Congress. Within the limit of 28.81 trillion yuan, plus 20.89 trillion yuan of central government debt included in budget management, the national government debt balance is 46.55 trillion yuan, and the ratio of government debt to GDP is 45.8%, which is lower than the internationally recognized 60% warning line, the overall risk is controllable.

　　At the press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Owenhan introduced that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the government debt management system will be further improved, which will not only effectively play the positive role of government debt financing, but also resolutely prevent and defuse risks and enhance fiscal sustainability. Sex.

　　——Improve the government debt management system and mechanism.

Reasonably determine the scale of government debt.

Build a local government debt financing mechanism with standardized management, clear responsibilities, openness and transparency, and controllable risks in accordance with the law.

Improve the local government debt risk assessment index system, and strengthen the application of risk assessment and early warning results.

　　—— Prevent and resolve the risk of local government debt.

Improve the normalized monitoring mechanism, and never allow new projects or pave the way through new hidden debts.

Harden budget constraints and strictly prohibit increasing hidden debt in the form of corporate debt.

Financial institutions must prudently operate in compliance with regulations and strictly prohibit illegally providing financing to local governments.

Clean up and standardize local financing platform companies and divest their government financing functions.

Improve the market-oriented and legalized debt default resolution mechanism, and strictly implement the government's lifetime accountability system for debt borrowing and the mechanism for reversal of debt problems.

　　——Improve the government bond issuance management mechanism and optimize the variety structure and term structure of local government bonds.

Improve the government debt information disclosure mechanism, and promote the formation of a market-oriented, legal-based financing self-discipline mechanism.

　　At the press conference, when answering the question of the "three guarantees" (guaranteeing basic people’s livelihood, guaranteeing wages, and guaranteeing operation), Owenhan said that the central government supports the local governments in securing the bottom line of the "three guarantees". After excluding special transfer payments, transfer payments increased by 7.8%.

At the same time, urge all localities to improve the fiscal system below the provincial level and increase investment in the county-level "three guarantees".

Promote the establishment of a direct mechanism for fiscal funds to ensure that new fiscal funds go directly to the grassroots of cities and counties to directly benefit enterprises and the people.

　　The so-called direct fund mechanism refers to the change from the previous level of approval and allocation of fiscal funds to "one shot" allocation to the grassroots or project units.

At the press conference, Director of the Budget Department Li Jinghui introduced that this year's direct management funds have increased to 2.8 trillion yuan, which has expanded the scope.

These include:

　　General transfer payments directly used for grassroots financial security, such as county-level basic financial security bonus funds, etc., to prevent the embezzlement of funds, and provide financial resources for the grassroots "three guarantees"; basic education, employment, social security, health and other fields People's livelihood guarantee funds are included in the direct scope to ensure that people's livelihood policies are accurately implemented; qualified special transfer payments, such as the special funds for inclusive financial development, ensure that the funds that benefit enterprises and people are accurately used for beneficiaries.

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