Fiscal revenue increased slightly in the past two months, with continued efforts in key areas of expenditure.

Source: Economic Reference Daily Author: Wei Xiayi

The Ministry of Finance data on March 19 shows that the fiscal operation has achieved a stable start in the first two months of this year. Among them, national general public budget revenue reached 44,154 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%; proactive fiscal policy has been implemented, with national general public budget expenditure at 46,706 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, and key sector expenditures have continued to receive strong support.

“In January and February, the resilience of national fiscal revenue and the precision of expenditure achieved an organic combination. The national general public budget revenue has seen slight growth in a complex environment, with stable tax revenue in line with the economic development trend; fiscal expenditure has been focused and structurally optimized, with strong support in key areas such as livelihood security. The effectiveness of proactive fiscal policy has been released, laying a foundation for the fiscal operation and high-quality economic development throughout the year, aligning with the guidance of the 14th Five-Year Plan’s start,” said Li Xuhong, Vice President of Beijing National Accounting Institute.

Specifically, in January and February this year, national tax revenue reached 36,393 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%; non-tax revenue reached 7,761 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%. By central and local divisions, central general public budget revenue was 19,167 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%; local general public budget own revenue reached 24,987 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%.

The performance of national tax revenue in the first two months is basically in line with the overall stable trend of economic operation, with the main tax categories reflecting the development of their respective fields. By tax category, domestic value-added tax increased by 4.7%, mainly driven by growth in industrial services and a narrowing decline in industrial producer prices.

It is noteworthy that benefiting from rapid growth in foreign trade imports at the beginning of the year, the import goods value-added tax and consumption tax increased by 12.9%; the value-added tax and consumption tax refunds for export goods totaled 5,569 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 494 billion yuan, or 9.7%, strongly supporting the growth of foreign trade exports. Additionally, based on the continuously active performance of the capital market, the securities transaction stamp tax grew by 1.1 times in January and February.

“The tax effects of industrial upgrading are also beginning to show.” Li Xuhong stated, among which the tax revenue of industries such as equipment manufacturing and modern services continues to perform well. For instance, tax revenue from the computer and communication equipment manufacturing industry grew by 9%, tax revenue from the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry grew by 9.5%, tax revenue from scientific research and technical services grew by 15.8%, and tax revenue from the cultural, sports, and entertainment industries grew by 9.8%.

In terms of fiscal expenditure, in the first two months of this year, proactive fiscal policy has been implemented, with national general public budget expenditure reaching 46,706 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. From the major expenditure categories, social security and employment expenditure was 9,279 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%; health expenditure was 4,119 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.3%; energy conservation and environmental protection expenditure was 838 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%; urban and rural community expenditure was 3,690 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%. According to Li Xuhong, the significant growth rates in expenditure for key areas such as social security and employment, and health care not only focus on people’s well-being but also take into account green development and urban-rural construction, aligning with the fiscal priority protection guidelines for 2026.

Luo Zhiheng, Chief Economist at Yuankai Securities, stated that the future direction for optimizing the structure of fiscal expenditure is to shift from focusing on investment to balancing investment and consumption, from emphasizing supply to balancing supply and demand, and from focusing on enterprises to balancing enterprises and households, further leaning towards residents and livelihood security.

(Editor: Wen Jing)

Keywords:

                                                            Fiscal Revenue