In the event, Thursday's report by the premier, Wen Jiabao, did not deliver any increase on the nearly-$600bn stimulus package announced in November. No matter. It is clear China will use whatever money is necessary to avert a sharp slowdown – although pledges to hit 8 per cent growth this year look bold. The planned budget deficit of $140bn equates to nearly 3 per cent of GDP, above China's recent run-rate of sub-1 per cent, or surpluses, but is certainly no cause for blushes in today's world. Chinese media reports suggest that the deficit has already been ratcheted up at least twice since December; if tax revenues do not add up, expect further increases rather than any contraction in expenditure. And if that is not enough, there are plenty of other taps to turn on. As brokerage CLSA notes, the Communist party must be the most liquid institution in the world. It controls the banks, which have huge undeployed deposits, and sits on $2,000bn of foreign exchange reserves.
結果，中國總理溫家寶周四發表報告時，并沒有提到將在去年11月出臺的近6000億美元刺激方案基礎上增加支出。不要緊。顯然，為了防止經濟急劇放緩，不管需要多少資金，中國都會投入的——盡管今年增長達到8%的承諾顯得很大膽。計劃中的預算赤字為1400億美元，相當于GDP的近3%，高于近些年低于1%或盈余狀態的水平。但在當今世界，3%的比率肯定不會讓人臉紅。據中國媒體報道，自去年12月以來，赤字至少已增長兩次；如果稅收收入未能達標，預計支出將進一步增加，而不會減少。如果這不夠用，還可以打開其它水龍頭。正如里昂證券(CLSA)所說，中國共產黨肯定是世界上流動性最多的機構。它控制著擁有大量未動用存款的銀行，還坐擁2萬億美元外匯儲備。