China budgets 2014 fiscal deficit of 2.1 percent of GDP

China budgeted spending of 15.3 trillion yuan ($2.5 trillion) in 2014 and a deficit of about 2.1 percent of gross domestic produce (GDP), the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday in its work plan unveiled at the annual parliament meeting.

The ministry said it was raising the quota for bonds issued by local governments to 400 billion yuan in 2014, compared with 350 billion yuan in 2013.

The budgeted deficit for 2013 is unchanged from its fiscal deficit of 2.1 percent of GDP recorded in 2013, which was slightly above the budgeted 2 percent of GDP.

The budget does not give the full picture of China's government spending, however, as it excludes off-budget expenditure by local governments. If that is included, JPMorgan forecasts China's budget deficit to be worth about 6.5 percent of GDP this year. ($1 = 6.1430 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Robert Birsel)