Government input to improve people's livelihood should increase
with rising fiscal revenue, says an article in Oriental Morning
Post. The following is an excerpt:
According to the Ministry of Finance, State revenue grew 30.6
percent year on year to 2.6 trillion yuan (US$344 billion) in the
first half of 2007. State expenditure was 1.8 trillion yuan for the
period, representing a 22.7 percent rise from the same period last
year.
It is estimated the revenue figure might reach 5 trillion yuan
for the year, against a budget of 4.65 trillion, which means there
will be a big surplus. If the opportunity were seized, there would
probably be a new turning point for China's development.
The government has said it will speedup the construction of an
urban residents' medical insurance system and a rural minimum
living subsidy system, which are examples of its human-centered
administrative orientation. Currently, the problem is that
insufficient funds have led to insufficient input in public
products and services.
For example, a social security system covering all has not been
constructed, and the government input to education accounts only
for about 3 percent of GDP.
Therefore, when the nation's fiscal revenue has a big surplus,
the government should increase input to public products and
services, especially education, social security system and the
infrastructure construction of rural areas.
The people's congresses at all levels should lead the
establishment of a checks and balances system with budget at its
core. That is the way to regulate the use of public money.
(China Daily July 27, 2007)