China's Fiscal Spending Growth Slows in June: Finance Ministry

The rise in China's fiscal spending slowed in July after strong growth in the first half of the year, while the government reported a rise in fiscal revenue, according to official data released on Friday.

Chinese government spent 1.35 trillion yuan ($202.7 billion) in its fiscal budget in July, up 5.4% from a year earlier, said the Ministry of Finance. The rate was down from the 19.1% increase in June.

The finance ministry said the slower growth in July as the government had front-loaded its spending in the first half of the year. In the first seven months of the year, fiscal expenditure rose 14.5% compared with the same period a year before, the ministry said.

It also said fiscal revenue was up 11.1% on year at CNY1.65 trillion in July, thanks to strong growth from land sales. In the January-July period, China's fiscal revenue increased 10%, said the ministry.

The Chinese government earned CNY2.34 trillion from land sales in the first seven months, up 37.3% on year.

Write to Grace Zhu at grace.zhu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 10, 2017 23:13 ET (03:13 GMT)