BEIJING ¨C China¡¯s top leaders Tuesday set an ambitious target for economic growth but signaled only modest stimulus measures, not the aggressive support for China¡¯s domestic economy that many analysts believe is necessary to halt a steep slide in the housing market and ease consumer malaise and investor wariness.
Premier Li Qiang, the country¡¯s No. 2 official, after Xi Jinping, said in his report to the annual session of the legislature that the government would seek economic growth of ¡°around 5%.¡± That is the same target that China¡¯s leadership set for last year, when official statistics ended up showing that the country¡¯s gross domestic product grew 5.2%.
The country¡¯s program for state spending showed little change. Li said that the central government¡¯s deficit would be set at 3% of economic output, but that the government was ready to issue another $140 billion worth of bonds to pay for unspecified projects of national importance. The more the government borrows, the more it can spend on initiatives that could boost the economy.
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