At today's regular briefing on the State Council's policies held by the State Council Information Office, a responsible person of the Ministry of Finance briefed them on the latest arrangements for the issuance of additional treasury bonds. The additional 1 trillion yuan of treasury bonds issued this time will be arranged for local use through transfer payments, and the central government will assume the responsibility of repaying principal and interest.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance said that the main goal of the additional issuance of treasury bonds is to concentrate on supporting post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, making up for the shortcomings in disaster prevention, mitigation and relief, improving the mainland's ability to resist natural disasters as a whole, and better protecting the safety of the people's lives and property. In terms of the use of funds, the responsibility for repaying principal and interest will be borne by the central government.
Zhu Zhongming, vice minister of finance, said: "The additional 1 trillion yuan of treasury bonds will be arranged for local use through transfer payments, and these debts will be listed as the central fiscal deficit, and the responsibility for repaying principal and interest will be borne by the central government, which will not increase the burden of local debt repayment." ”
According to the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance, the additional treasury bond funds are initially considered to be used in 2023, and the remaining 500 billion yuan will be carried forward to 2024. According to the specific situation of the eight expenditure directions, the relevant departments will further refine the work requirements, and put forward financial subsidy standards or subsidy policies in combination with the actual situation in each field.
Vice Minister Zhu Zhongming said: "In order to alleviate the supporting pressure on local finances, we will appropriately increase the standard or proportion of subsidies from the central government in relevant fields, and increase support for local governments to ensure the smooth implementation of the project." ”
Zhu Zhongming also said that in order to maintain the convergence between budget years, the central government will refer to the previous practice and set up a separate item of "subsidy funds for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and improvement of disaster prevention, mitigation and relief capabilities" in the transfer payments from the central government to local governments, which will be juxtaposed with general transfer payments and special transfer payments to reflect the expenditure of the additional treasury bond issuance arrangement.