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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Putting stimulus plan under the public lens
Source: Xinhua |
February 17, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A SHANGHAI lawyer made a formal request to the Ministry of Finance last week to make public the detailed expenditure of the country's 4 trillion yuan (US$585.5 billion) fiscal stimulus package.
Yan Yiming, a lawyer specializing in securities cases and owning a law firm named after himself, said he was dissatisfied with the ministry's previous response to his request. It said the release of the information was improper.
The current formal request made last week for an "administrative reconsideration,'' must receive a reply from the ministry within 15 days, according to Chinese law.
Yan submitted his previous request to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, on January 7. According to Yan, the MOF reply came less than two weeks later but the NDRC remained silent.
The Ministry of Finance said in a written reply that details of the plan should be released after it was approved by the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.
"There is no state secret in the stimulus plan, so why not make it public for better supervision?" Yan said.
An NDRC official told Xinhua by telephone that Yan's application was still "under consideration," and the government was studying the issue.
If the two departments both eventually refuse his application, Yan said he would sue.
"Supervision of the use of funds is crucial for the successful implementation of the stimulus plan, since it helps to avoid corruption and inefficiency," he said.
As the annual National People's Congress is to open in March, Yan said he hoped legislators could join in pressing the government to be more transparent with the massive stimulus package.
Yan is not alone in questioning the hefty package announced by the government last November to prevent the Chinese economy from declining too fast. Many people are concerned about fund misuse, corruption and their effect on macroeconomic control.
Beijing-based China Youth Daily carried an editorial two weeks ago saying that every Chinese citizen had the right to know how the government would spend the 4 trillion yuan. "It is constitutional. But we cannot find out exactly where the 4 trillion yuan will be invested from the information already released by the government," it said.
Under the Regulation on the Disclosure of Government Information issued by the State Council, China's Cabinet, government officials must disclose information concerning the interests of Chinese citizens, corporations and other organizations. Issues of national, public and economic security and social stability are exempt.
Laoye, a Netizen from Hubei Province, put on a post on Jingchu.com affiliated to the Hubei Daily Group, urging legislators to demand the government give a clear breakdown of the expenditure.
Special inspection teams with members from the Ministries of Supervision and Finance and the NDRC were sent to localities shortly after the package was announced to scrutinize fund use.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Management Commission made an announcement on Sunday, reiterating that it would closely watch over projects implemented by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the country's massive stimulus package to prevent corruption.
However, none of them released reports on their inspection results.
Xia Bin, director of the Financial Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, suggested to the government that it should establish an evaluation system to gauge the economic effect of the stimulus package on a monthly or quarterly basis.
"Public demand for greater transparency in the government stimulus plan reflects people's worries over China's uncertain economic outlook and the effect of the macroeconomic policies," he said.
Yan Yiming, a lawyer specializing in securities cases and owning a law firm named after himself, said he was dissatisfied with the ministry's previous response to his request. It said the release of the information was improper.
The current formal request made last week for an "administrative reconsideration,'' must receive a reply from the ministry within 15 days, according to Chinese law.
Yan submitted his previous request to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, on January 7. According to Yan, the MOF reply came less than two weeks later but the NDRC remained silent.
The Ministry of Finance said in a written reply that details of the plan should be released after it was approved by the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.
"There is no state secret in the stimulus plan, so why not make it public for better supervision?" Yan said.
An NDRC official told Xinhua by telephone that Yan's application was still "under consideration," and the government was studying the issue.
If the two departments both eventually refuse his application, Yan said he would sue.
"Supervision of the use of funds is crucial for the successful implementation of the stimulus plan, since it helps to avoid corruption and inefficiency," he said.
As the annual National People's Congress is to open in March, Yan said he hoped legislators could join in pressing the government to be more transparent with the massive stimulus package.
Yan is not alone in questioning the hefty package announced by the government last November to prevent the Chinese economy from declining too fast. Many people are concerned about fund misuse, corruption and their effect on macroeconomic control.
Beijing-based China Youth Daily carried an editorial two weeks ago saying that every Chinese citizen had the right to know how the government would spend the 4 trillion yuan. "It is constitutional. But we cannot find out exactly where the 4 trillion yuan will be invested from the information already released by the government," it said.
Under the Regulation on the Disclosure of Government Information issued by the State Council, China's Cabinet, government officials must disclose information concerning the interests of Chinese citizens, corporations and other organizations. Issues of national, public and economic security and social stability are exempt.
Laoye, a Netizen from Hubei Province, put on a post on Jingchu.com affiliated to the Hubei Daily Group, urging legislators to demand the government give a clear breakdown of the expenditure.
Special inspection teams with members from the Ministries of Supervision and Finance and the NDRC were sent to localities shortly after the package was announced to scrutinize fund use.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Management Commission made an announcement on Sunday, reiterating that it would closely watch over projects implemented by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the country's massive stimulus package to prevent corruption.
However, none of them released reports on their inspection results.
Xia Bin, director of the Financial Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, suggested to the government that it should establish an evaluation system to gauge the economic effect of the stimulus package on a monthly or quarterly basis.
"Public demand for greater transparency in the government stimulus plan reflects people's worries over China's uncertain economic outlook and the effect of the macroeconomic policies," he said.
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