Govt fiscal spending surges 26.1% in June

China's fiscal expenditure surged 26.1 percent in June from a year earlier to 1.65 trillion yuan ($265.84 billion), reflecting government efforts to speed up spending to shore up the economy.

Spending growth stood at 24.6 percent in May.

Of the total 6.9 trillion yuan of government spending in the first six months, money disbursed on public housing projects grew the most, surging 30.2 percent from a year ago to 201.9 billion yuan, the finance ministry said on Monday.

Expenditure on medical and healthcare sectors rose 18.4 percent in the first half to 490.5 billion yuan, while spending on rural-urban community projects grew 23.6 percent to 618 billion yuan.

The finance ministry had earlier urged local governments to quicken the pace of budget allocation to guarantee the completion of key projects and lift the slowing economy.

Recent data and activity surveys have pointed to some signs of stabilization in the economy as a raft of government stimulus measures kick in, but many economists believe more policy support still may be needed if China wants to deliver on its 2014 growth target of around 7.5 percent.

Monday's data also showed China's fiscal revenues rose 8.8 percent in June from a year ago to 1.3 trillion yuan, the ministry said on its website.

The June reading of fiscal income is a touch higher than an increase of 7.2 percent in May, though the finance ministry warned that the slowing broader economy and tax cuts for selected industries could continue to weigh on fiscal revenues in the second half of this year.

The government will report second quarter GDP on Wednesday.

Aided by stimulus measures, China's economy probably steadied in the second quarter with annual growth holding firm at 7.4 percent, a Reuters poll showed, suggesting that a recovery is taking hold.