China Targets Record Deficit to Buffer Economy Against Rising US Tariffs

Sets Official Deficit at Decades-High

- BLOOMBERG

CHINA RAISED ITS general budget deficit to the highest level in more than three decades, as Beijing ramps up spending to counter the effects of rising US tariffs.

The government set this year's fiscal deficit target to 5.66 trillion yuan ($780 billion), or around 4% of gross domestic product, according to an annual work report Premier Li Qiang delivered to the national parliament on Wednesday.

That's the highest level since a major tax overhaul in 1994 revamped the government budget, and roughly in line with an estimate of 4% by economists in a Bloomberg survey. Li also set a growth goal of about 5%, an ambitious target that would require more stimulus than last year to achieve.