Rural incomes unlikely to meet target

The director of rural development research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warned that
rural incomes would not grow by the government's target rate of per cent this year as a
result of the impact of Sars, -South China Morning Post said. Many rural migrants have lost
their city jobs in the service Sector, thereby hitting the remittances to families back
home.
A government survey showed that about 1m workers returned home at the peak
of the outbreak, and tighter restrictions on employment and letting accommodation to
migrants work make it more difficult for them to find jobs and cheap housing when they
returned.
The director called on the government to relieve the financial burden of farmers
by reducing agricultural tax and overhauling public finances to benefit rural
people.