BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s fiscal revenue grew 2.6% in October from a year earlier, after a 1.3% fall in September, marking the first monthly growth since July, according to Reuters calculations based on finance ministry figures on Wednesday.
But other data released on Wednesday pointed to an unbalanced economic recovery as October industrial output and retail sales growth beat expectations but property and investment data disappointed.
In the first 10 months, fiscal revenue totalled 18.75 trillion yuan ($2.59 trillion), up 8.1% from a year earlier but slowing from the 8.9% increase in the January-September period, the ministry data showed.
Fiscal expenditures rose 4.6% to 21.57 trillion yuan in the first 10 months, from a year earlier.
For October alone, fiscal spending logged a 11.9% gain, compared with a 5.2% rise in September.
After a tough start to the year, optimism was brewing for China’s economic outlook, with the IMF upgrading its growth forecasts for 2023 and 2024, after Beijing approved a 1 trillion yuan sovereign bond issue and allowed local governments to partially front load their 2024 bond quotas.
Efforts are on track to shore up the crisis-hit property sector, which has been a major drag on the economic recovery and consumer confidence, with Bloomberg News reporting that China plans to provide at least 1 trillion yuan of low-cost financing to urban village renovation and affordable housing programmes.
But concerns linger over how long it will take the economy to get back on a stronger footing.
Exports shrank at a quicker pace last month, household borrowing remained weak, consumer prices swung lower while factory deflation persisted.
($1 = 7.2342 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo)
