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China to audit government debt soon
July 29, 2013, 10:33 am

[Xinhua]

The government has repeatedly warned against ignoring financial risks [Xinhua]

China’s top auditing body, the National Audit Office (NAO), announced Sunday that it will conduct a nationwide audit over government debt.

“In line with a request of the State Council, the NAO will organise auditing agencies across the country to carry out an audit of government debt,” the national auditor said in a one-line statement on its website.

Further details including dates have not yet been made public.

The government has repeatedly warned against ignoring financial risks, especially the local government debt problem.

A 2011 audit found that China’s local governments’ debt totalled 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.73 trillion) at the end of 2010 – 80 per cent of total bank lending in China.

In early June, the NAO said that a follow-up audit found liabilities of 3.85 trillion yuan owed by 36 local governments by the end of 2012.

Source: Agencies