Business Maverick: China’s budget deficit hits record $1.1-trillion on Covid-Zero slump

The augmented fiscal deficit was 7.75 trillion yuan in January to November, according to Bloomberg calculations based onfrom the Ministry of Finance. That was more than double the same period last year and larger than in 2020, when the economy was battered by the initial Covid outbreak and growth was the slowest in decades.

The worsening deficit underscores just how bad the economy was at the end of November, shortly before the government in Beijing effectively scrapped its strict policy of trying to contain Covid infections. The lockdowns, testing and quarantine rules that were key to the Covid-Zero policy put a strain on consumer and business spending, pushing the economy close to contraction in the second quarter. A surge in infections this quarter has already caused a drop in retail sales in October and November.The Covid policy was also increasingly expensive to maintain.

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