CHINA-ECONOMY: LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEBT
The Wall Street Journal (September 3) reported that 'Zhang Ming, an economist with state-run Institute of World Economics and Politics, estimates that “hidden debt” totaled 23.57 trillion yuan ($3.45 trillion) at the end of 2017, greater than the 18.58 trillion yuan of local government debt acknowledged in official data. His study found that off-book local government debt jumped nearly 80% in 2016.' Meanwhile, Larry Hu, an economist at Macquarie Group was quoted as saying 'debt by local governments totals 46% of the size of China’s $12 trillion economy.'
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