SHANGHAI/HONG KONG — China’s Ministry of Finance on Saturday outlined plans to step up fiscal support to local governments, state-owned banks and consumers, but stopped short of announcing the size of a stimulus package hotly anticipated by investors.
In a news conference, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an introduced four policies: increasing support for local governments to ease their debt burden; issuing special treasury bonds to increase the capital of state-owned banks; using local government funding to stop the downturn in the real estate market; and providing assistance to students to encourage spending.
