FACTBOX: Selected figures from China's 2008 budget
BEIJING (Reuters) - The Ministry of Finance unveiled China's 2008 budget on Wednesday and reported on last year's fiscal performance. Premier Wen Jiabao also highlighted some spending plans in his annual report to parliament.
The main points include:
BUDGET DEFICIT
The ministry projects a deficit of 180 billion yuan (0.6 percent of GDP) this year, compared with 245 billion yuan (0.8 percent of GDP) in 2007. The original target for 2007 was a deficit of 1.1 percent of GDP.
"Focusing on restructuring and achieving balanced development, we will improve and follow the prudent fiscal policy. We will coordinate this policy more closely with monetary policy and organically integrate efforts to balance total supply and demand, keep prices stable, make structural adjustments and foster equilibrium," the ministry said.
2008 TARGETS
-- Total national revenue up 14 percent from 2007
-- Total national spending up 22.6 percent
"The implementation of the new law on corporate income tax, the effects of lowering the individual income tax rate on the interest from saving accounts, the VAT reform taking place in some cities in the central region, and raising the earnings threshold for the individual income tax will all markedly decrease revenue," the ministry said.
2008 REVENUE TARGETS
-- Domestic VAT receipts will reach 1.34 trillion yuan, a rise of 15.5 percent
-- Domestic consumption tax receipts will reach 247 billion yuan, a rise of 11.9 percent
-- VAT and consumption tax receipts from imports will be 685.5 billion yuan, up 11.4 percent; VAT and consumption tax rebates for exports will hit 575 billion yuan (decreasing revenue by that amount), an increase of 2 percent
-- business tax receipts will reach 22.5 billion yuan, up 11 percent
-- corporate income tax receipts will be 643 billion yuan, an increase of 13.9 percent
-- individual income tax receipts will be 203 billion yuan, up 6.2 percent Continued...
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