China’s recorded a fiscal deficit of US$16.2 billion in 2008 due to government economic stimulus measures in December, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance. The full-year fiscal deficit erased the US$178.8 billion surplus seen in the first 11 months of the year. China’s fiscal revenue grew by 19.5% last year to US$896 billion, while fiscal expenditures rose by 25.4% to US$912.2 billion. Fiscal spending in December surged by nearly 31% year-on-year to US$243 billion, more than doubling November’s spending. Fiscal revenue in December rose by 3.3% year-on-year to US$47.5 billion. China in November launched a US$585 billion economic stimulus package to counter a slowing economy, but frontloaded US$14.6 billion of the plan in the final quarter of the year.
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