Govt plans more financial aid to vulnerable groups

An official with the Ministry of Finance said on Saturday that the government is considering providing extra fund to help the vulnerable and impoverished group affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

This year, the central authorities have allocated 103 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) in advance to safeguard the basic living of the homeless, orphans and other impoverished groups, according to Fu Jinling, head of the ministry's social security department.

A total of 147.2 billion yuan in fund of the same category was earmarked for the entire year of 2019, he said at a daily news conference in Beijing.

The announcement came as a slowing economy has fueled speculations that the central authorities may reduce aid for the financially strapped populations due to less fiscal revenue.

Fu said the latest input shows that State benefits would not be affected despite the novel coronavirus epidemic, which has disrupted logistic chains and fed temporary rise in some commodity prices.

Fu acknowledged that the slowdown - coupled with the disruptions caused by the outbreak - has shrunk government revenue at the current stage.

But he stressed that the size and the potential of the Chinese economy mean that the government reserve is large and elastic enough to handle the changes.

Government at all levels have pumped 116.9 billion yuan into epidemic control efforts as of Friday, showing monetary input is sufficient, he added.

Fu said they would step up input in Hubei province and other regions severely affected by the outbreak and ensure that the money was spent on people most urgently in need.