BEIJING (Sputnik) — The Chinese budget deficit may slightly grow in 2016, Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said Monday.
"I want to say that we have a serious situation with financial income, so the budget deficit may increase, it is difficult to say to what extent," Lou said at a press conference.
According to a Chinese government report, the budget deficit in 2016 will amount to $334 billion, or 3 percent of the GDP.
China's economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015, down from 7.3 percent in 2014, which is the lowest annual GDP increase in 25 years.
The Chinese government plans to strengthen the role of innovations in the economy in the next five years, with the science share of the GDP reaching 2.5 percent by 2020.
