China Government Debt to GDP

The Chinese government raised local governments’ debt ceiling to CNY 35.52 trillion and announced a CNY 10 trillion program to allow local governments to swap their off-balance sheet debt with Beijing and secure cheaper financing for public expenditure. The Finance Ministry estimates that the measures will allow local governments to CNY 600 billion in interest payments over the next five years. Outstanding local government debt was estimated at CNY 14.3 trillion in 2023, and the program hopes to lower the number to CNY 2.3 trillion by 2028. Also, the increase of the debt ceiling for municipalities will raise their room for expenditure as dwindling land sales, local governments’ traditional source of income, have idled in the economic crisis that the world’s second-largest economy faces. Still, the measures refrained from creating new fiscal stimulus to targeted consumption, which was expected by a portion of the market by the end of the National People's Congress's Standing Committee.