China Budget Deficit Nears Record $1 Trillion Amid Slowdown (1)

China’s broad fiscal deficit hit an all-time high in the first nine months of the year as Covid outbreaks and a housing market slump continue to erode government income.

The deficit in the budgets for all levels of government was 7.16 trillion yuan ($980 billion), according to Bloomberg calculations based on datareleased by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. That is a record for any comparable period and is almost three times the 2.6 trillion yuan shortfall in January-September last year.

Chinese authorities have struggled to make ends meet this year as massive tax rebates and the persistent housing ...