China’s finance minister says there is ‘large room’ for fiscal stimulus

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG — China's Finance Ministry on Saturday unveiled plans to boost fiscal support for local governments, state-owned banks and consumers, but stopped short of disclosing the size of a stimulus package eagerly awaited by investors.

At the press conference, Finance Minister Lan Foan presented four policies: increasing support to local governments to ease the debt burden; issuance of special treasury bonds to increase the capital of state banks; using local government funding to stem the downturn in the real estate market; and providing assistance to students to encourage spending.