Government Debt Risk Under Control, Finance Ministry Says

(Beijing) – Overall risks associated with public debt are "controllable", and there is room on the government's balance sheet to borrow more, the Ministry of Finance said.

However, it warned the local governments' ability to repay debt has weakened.

The country's total government debt stood at almost 26.7 trillion yuan at the end of 2015, the ministry said in a statement on May 26. Out of this, local governments owed 16 trillion yuan. The figure was up from 15.4 trillion yuan in 2014, Lou Jiwei, the finance minister, said late last year.