Chinese finance minister hints at increasing the deficit at highly anticipated briefing [Video]

BEIJING — China’s Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an told reporters Saturday during a highly anticipated press briefing that the central government has room to increase debt and the deficit.

He emphasized that the space for a deficit increase is “rather large,” but noted such policies are still under discussion, according to CNBC’s translation of the Chinese.

Economists have insisted that China needs additional fiscal support, but Beijing has yet to announce any. In the days leading up to the briefing, many investors and analysts had hoped that China was gearing up to unveil a major new stimulus package.

Lan signaled that the weekend briefing was not the end, that more stimulus is on the way and that the debt or deficit changes markets have been waiting for could come in the near future. It remains unclear whether the size of any such stimulus would meet market expectations, or how much would go directly towards consumption or real estate.

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