December 2008

China takes infrastructure road


Can a spending spree mask problems in banking and the broader economy?


With infrastructure spending to boost growth in the limelight for the world’s leading economies, it was perhaps appropriate that China, a country renowned for its engineering skills and planning, should be the first to show its hand.

Last month the government announced a Rmb4 trillion ($586 billion) fiscal package, over the next two years, betraying its fears that China’s growth was slowing faster than expected.

Although officially annual GDP growth is at 9%, some analysts believe the rate could fall to 7% or less – the critical level that China has...


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