Has the special debt fund been used on the "knife edge"?
——Investigation on the use of local government special bonds
Dong Bijuan, reporter of Economic Daily and China Economic Net
In recent years, as an effective starting point for proactive fiscal policies, the scale of new local government special bonds has continued to increase, and the rapid growth in the scale of new special bonds has played a role in improving public services, promoting economic growth, and preventing hidden local government debt risks. Important role.
In hedging the downward pressure on the economy and coping with the challenge of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, what kind of vitality has the special debt injected into the local economy?
How can this "front door" for local governments to regulate debt financing open better?
In response to these issues, reporters from the Economic Daily have recently conducted investigations and interviews in Chongqing and Hunan.
In Chongqing in August, the temperature is close to 40°C.
Under the scorching sun, a reporter from the Economic Daily came to the construction site of the first phase of the Chongqing University Industrial Technology Research Institute in the Chongqing High-tech Zone.
Under the towering tower crane, a 10-story building wrapped in blue membrane has risen from the ground.
"In mid-July, after the 120 million yuan special debt funds were in place, our progress was significantly accelerated, and the amount of work in one day was three times the original." As the owner of the project, Zhou Junfeng, deputy general manager of Chongqing Jinfeng Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd. I can't help but praise this special debt fund to solve the urgent need.
There are still many special debt projects under construction like this.
This year, my country has allocated 3.75 trillion yuan in special bonds for local governments, an increase of 1.6 trillion yuan over the previous year.
As of July 31, new local government special bonds have been issued 2.266.1 billion yuan, completing 60.4% of the annual plan. The remaining special bonds are expected to be completed before the end of October.
Many people are a little unfamiliar with "special debt", but it is closely related to the daily lives of the people.
"Local government special bonds are an important type of local government's regulated borrowing. Since 2015, in accordance with the new budget law, local governments have the right to raise debts in accordance with the law, and mainly use bond issuance to raise debt. Local government bonds include general bonds and special bonds. "Zhao Quanhou, director of the Financial Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, told reporters that the issuance of special bonds is mainly invested in public welfare projects with certain returns, and the corresponding government fund subjects and special bond financing project income are used as repayment.
How strong is the scale of bond issuance?
In mid-July, the Hunan Provincial Airport Group welcomed 10 guests specially to "problem".
It turned out that as the special bond project with the largest single investment scale and the largest amount of bond funds raised in Hunan so far, the Changsha Airport reconstruction and expansion project innovatively introduced an external supervision mechanism, and strictly selected and hired 10 special supervisors from different industries and fields to provide special support for the project. Suggest.
The project is expected to invest more than 40 billion yuan, of which 16 billion yuan will be special bond funds. It will build a comprehensive transportation hub that seamlessly connects public transportation, high-speed rail, subway, magnetic levitation and the terminal, which will effectively complement the civil aviation foundation of Hunan Province. Facilities are short.
"In recent years, the scale of new local government special bond issuance has continued to increase, from 100 billion yuan in 2015 to 3.75 trillion yuan this year. The rapid increase in the scale of new special bonds is for improving public services, promoting economic growth and preventing The hidden debt risk of local governments plays an important role." Zhao Quanhou said.
The reporter found that as the scale and speed of the issuance of special bonds have expanded, the pace of innovation has become more vigorous.
"Compared with previous years, the number of special bonds issued in Shenzhen this year has increased from 9 to 15 in 2019, and the major national strategies of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, preschool education, social undertakings, cultural tourism, and integrated parking lots have been added. Fields required by the state." Huang Yun, Director of the Budget Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Finance Bureau, said that this year Shenzhen also issued a special bond of 1 billion yuan for the project capital for the first time in the Shenzhen section of the Shenzhen-Mao Railway.
Entering the Science Valley Digital Intelligence Construction Command Center in the Western China (Chongqing) Science City, a variety of intelligent management platforms are in sight, and a full range of digital atmosphere is in sight.
The reporter noticed that a "project collaborative management platform" was displayed on a large electronic screen, with multiple channels for project master control, investment control, design management, progress control, quality management, and safety management, allowing real-time viewing of progress and related data.
In the command center, Tu Jinghong, general manager of Chongqing High-tech Zone Development and Investment Group Co., Ltd., told reporters that this year, he undertook special debt projects for Huanzhai Shanping Industrial Belt and Hangu Intelligent Manufacturing Industrial Park. Special debt funds of 760 million yuan have been put in place. It's going well.
Behind the active innovation in various regions is the deepening of the special debt management reform at the national level.
"This year's local government special debt focuses on supporting the construction of the'two new and one heavy' projects that promote consumption and benefit the people's livelihood and adjust the structure to increase stamina. Strictly restrict the use of special debt funds for housing-related projects, which fully reflects the proactive and effective fiscal policy. "Said Mao Jie, head of the Department of Finance and Taxation, University of International Business and Economics.
In June 2019, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Local Government Special Bond Issuance and Project Supporting Financing Work", which clearly stated that special bonds are allowed as eligible major project capital.
Mao Jie believes that this move will coordinate the "open the front door" and "strictly block the back door" of local government debt, so that the special debt can better leverage and lead the effect.
According to statistics, in the first quarter of this year, a total of 67.63 billion yuan of special bonds were used as capital, which was mainly invested in 130 projects across the country. Last year, the scale was 6.813 billion yuan and there were 9 projects.
How to optimize capital investment
"Noisy and chaotic!" Once, there was a lot of people and vehicles in the Chengnan Comprehensive Market in Jiangjin District, Chongqing. Large trucks came in and out, and the random parking of vehicles caused a headache for nearby residents.
In August last year, the construction of the parking garage project of the Chengnan Comprehensive Market started and was put into use in mid-August this year.
"This project is strongly supported by bond funds, of which 10 million yuan has been arranged for special debt funds. The parking lot located in the downtown area has added 198 parking spaces, which has greatly solved the troubles of the people." Deputy Director of Chongqing Jiangjin District Finance Bureau Zheng Hong told reporters.
Optimize the investment direction of bond funds, strictly prohibit the replacement of existing debts, and never allow image projects and face-saving projects-this is the management requirement for new local government special bonds this year.
Strict implementation in various places, the precious special debt funds are truly used to benefit the people's livelihood and make up for shortcomings, and promote a number of major projects to accelerate the release of energy efficiency.
The funds are used on the "knife edge" to make some places more water resources.
On May 28, Hunan Province issued 43.102 billion yuan in new government special bonds on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, including 1.2 billion yuan in bonds corresponding to the Jiaohua Reservoir Project, with a 30-year issuance period and an interest rate of 3.75%.
As a basic project to solve the water shortage of Changsha Eastern Economic Corridor, the project can improve the flood control system of the Liuyang River Basin, improve the downstream water ecological environment, and realize regional water system connectivity after completion.
The funds are used on the "knife edge" to make transportation in some places more convenient.
The Shenzhen Airport Satellite Hall project has a total investment of 10.57 billion yuan. Special bonds of 1.85 billion yuan have been issued in 2019, and 3.15 billion yuan will be issued this year.
The satellite hall has a design scale of 235,000 square meters and is constructed according to an annual passenger throughput of 22 million passengers. After completion, it will greatly enhance the infrastructure support capacity of Shenzhen Airport.
Funds are used on the "knife edge" to make it easier to see a doctor in some places.
The total investment of the new construction project of Chongqing Jiangbei District People's Hospital is 3.72 billion yuan, and the construction is planned to be completed within 3 years.
According to the progress of the project, 44 million yuan of special bond funds has been allocated for the project this year.
The project plans to use a land area of 48,600 square meters, including emergency department, outpatient department, inpatient department, medical technical assistance department, preventive health care center, etc. It will further improve the medical service system of Jiangbei District and serve the health of the people.
“As of the end of July, the Ministry of Finance has issued a quota of 105.4 billion yuan for Chongqing’s new special bonds in 2020. So far, it has successfully issued 67.4 billion yuan and has all been allocated to relevant units at the district, county and municipal levels.” Chongqing Municipal Finance Bureau Government Debt Management According to Mu Chaoqi, deputy director of the division, these bond funds are concentrated in key areas such as transportation infrastructure, medical and health, agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, ecological and environmental protection, municipal administration and industrial park construction.
He Weiwen, deputy director of the Department of Finance of Hunan Province, introduced that Hunan’s currently issued special bonds of 91.1 billion yuan are mainly invested in park construction of 42.66 billion yuan (46.83%), transportation infrastructure 20.17 billion yuan (22.14%), social Business 15.273.8 billion yuan (16.77%), water construction 10.3755 billion yuan (11.39%), agriculture, forestry and water conservancy 2.272 billion yuan (2.49%), and old community renovation 348 million yuan (0.38%).
"Stabilizing investment is stabilizing the economy. In the western region, the importance of investment is even more obvious." Gao Jiupeng, director of the Finance Bureau of Chongqing High-tech Zone, was deeply moved by this.
He told reporters that the timely issuance of special debts has eased the pressure on local finances to invest in project construction, helps better prevent debt risks, and also attracts and drives more social capital to follow up.
At present, Chongqing High-tech Zone is actively developing more in-depth cooperation with national policy banks, commercial banks, and large central enterprises. It effectively leverages social capital investment through various forms such as project loans and PPP. It is expected to use more than 4 billion yuan of bond funds to attract more than 20 billion yuan of social capital.
What are the practical ways to strengthen project management
As the government increases its borrowing efforts, how to improve the efficiency of the use of special debt funds and effectively prevent risks has become a must-answer question.
"We consider strengthening management in all aspects from the links of'borrowing, using, managing and returning' to maximize the efficiency of fund use." Minister of Finance Liu Kun pointed out that "borrowing" means to reasonably control the pace of issuance; "use", It is to optimize the investment direction of bond funds; "management" is to speed up the progress of capital use; "repayment" is to implement statutory debt repayment responsibilities.
"The financial department will effectively manage and use the special bond funds, firmly hold the bottom line that systemic risks will not occur, and will never relax risk control to solve short-term problems." Liu Kun said.
In July this year, the Ministry of Finance issued the "Notice on Accelerating the Issuance and Use of Special Bonds by Local Governments," which put forward a strict negative list for the use of new special bonds, speed up the use of funds for new special bonds, and increase the disclosure of special bond information in accordance with the law. , Improve the notification and interview mechanism and the supervision mechanism and other measures.
Around the above requirements, all localities have made great efforts to manage and use special debt funds.
Wan Chuanjiang, director of the Finance Bureau of Jiangbei District, Chongqing City, told reporters that the amount of special debt in Jiangbei District has increased significantly this year. In the past year, it was less than 1 billion yuan, and this year it exceeded 1.8 billion yuan.
"The increase in the scale of special bonds puts forward higher requirements for the reserve and screening of projects at the grassroots level, especially the pre-preparation must be refined. We have been working with relevant departments to screen and evaluate projects since last year to ensure that projects and funds can be better connected." Wan Chuanjiang said.
Shenzhen gives priority to supporting projects with complete procedures, complete preliminary preparations, and construction conditions, and gives priority to ensuring the funding needs of projects under construction, and it is strictly forbidden to detain bond funds in the treasury or deposit in departmental units.
Among the 77 special bonds issued in Shenzhen this year, the proportion of projects under construction is as high as 94.1%, and the remaining projects are also in the preliminary preparation stage.
According to Gao Jiupeng, the financial department of Chongqing High-tech Zone has further improved the special debt risk indicator system, timely assessment and early warning, to ensure that the budget solvency of the current year can cover the debt service amount and exceed a certain range.
Information disclosure is an important way to optimize the management of special debt.
On December 31, 2019, the Ministry of Finance officially launched a trial operation of the Chinese local government bond information disclosure platform.
The reporter opened the platform website and saw several columns including bond information, monthly data, quarterly data, and annual data.
Click "Bond Information" to see the bond information of various regions sorted by issuance time.
In each data column, there are not only the national total data, but also sub-regional statistics, which is clear at a glance.
The reporter learned from the financial departments of many places that in order to effectively prevent and control debt risks, all localities insist that special bonds must be used for public welfare projects with certain income, and insist on balancing project income and financing.
It is strictly forbidden to use it to pay wages, unit operating funds, issue pensions, pay interest, etc., and it is strictly prohibited to use it for debt replacement and commercial operation of industrial projects and corporate subsidies.
At the same time, in order to speed up the use of new special bond funds, all localities rely on the local government debt management information system to implement penetrating and whole-process monitoring of the special bond issuance and use, and dynamically monitor the participation of local finance, relevant authorities and project units. main body.
Zhao Quanhou believes that in order to play the role of special bonds more effectively, it is necessary to complete the issuance of special bonds on schedule and ensure the supply of funds for bond projects.
At the same time, it is necessary to rationally allocate special bond funds, pay attention to the overall coordination of special bond funds and other forms of fiscal funds, and further improve the efficiency of fund use.
"If there is no strong support from special debts, some good projects may have to wait three or four years. As a local government department, we must seize the opportunity, improve the efficiency of fund use, implement more livelihood projects, and contribute to creating a better life for the people. Strength." said Li Jia, director of the Finance Bureau of Jiangjin District, Chongqing.