武漢因金融危機公開點名數百名借債人

Recently Yahoo News reported the following:

Wuhan Publicly Names Hundreds of Debtors Amid Financial Woes

Bloomberg News

Mon, May 29, 2023 at 2:53 a.m. PDT

(Bloomberg) -- Wuhan, a city in central China, publicly named hundreds of debtors in a local newspaper article demanding payment, a rare move underscoring the fiscal problems facing provincial governments.

The city’s local finance bureau printed a list of 259 entities with outstanding payments dating back to December 2018 in the Yangtze River Daily — the official mouthpiece of the Wuhan government — on Friday. The debts listed totaled more than 300 million yuan ($42.4 million). While the Wuhan municipal government’s revenue hit 50.77 billion yuan in the first quarter of the year, that marked a 8.5% decline on the same period last year.

The Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Finance said in the page-long article that attempts to collect the money by writing to debtors had failed, and urged those named to “immediately perform the relevant statutory debt repayment obligations.”

The biggest debtor to the Wuhan finance bureau was a car manufacturer that owed the government 23.5 million yuan. A number of district financial bureaus were also on the list.

Several state-affiliated publications, including the Securities Times, reported on the Wuhan government’s public notice over the weekend, and reprinted the list. The page in question wasn’t available on Yangtze River Daily’s official website.

Shi Zhengwen, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said provinces rarely attempt to collect debt through public notices. Wuhan’s actions “reflect the current challenges for local government finances, as debt collection is not as urgent when funds are abundant,” said Shi.

He added that China’s finance ministry has been stressing financial discipline recently and a public call for debt collection is one way for a local government to show it’s taking that push seriously.

China is facing a local government debt problem that threatens to drag on the world’s second-largest economy for years to come. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates China’s total government debt is about $23 trillion, a figure that includes the hidden borrowing of thousands of financing companies set up by provinces and cities.

The majority of China’s 31 provincial authorities have already exceeded a threshold set by Beijing to signify disproportionately high debt risks. While it’s unlikely any of the regional governments will default, the high debt levels may force some to scale back spending.

Translation

（彭博社）- 中國中部城市武漢在當地報紙的一篇文章中公開點名數百名借債人去要求償還債務，此罕見的舉動舉凸顯了省級政府面臨的財政問題。

週五，武漢市地方財政局在武漢市政府官方喉舌《長江日報》上公佈了一份包含 259 家拖欠款項的實體名單，拖欠可追溯至 2018 年 12 月。 列出的債務總額超過 3 億元人民幣（4,240 萬美元）。 武漢市首季度財政收入507.7億元，同比下降8.5%。

武漢市財政局在長達一頁文章中表示，試圖通過寫信給借債人的方式催收未果，並敦促被點名的人“立即履行相關法定的債務清償義務”。

武漢市財政局最大的債務人是一家汽車製造商，欠政府 2,350 萬元。 多個區財政局也在名單上。

包括《證券時報》在內的多家官方刊物週末報導了武漢市政府的公告，並轉載了這份名單。 長江日報官方網站上沒有相關頁面。

中國政法大學教授 Shi Zhengwen 表示，各省很少嘗試通過公示方式催收債務。 Shi 說，武漢的行動 “反映了當前地方政府財政面臨的挑戰，因為在資金充裕的情況下，收債並不那麼急需” 。

他補充說，中國財政部最近一直在強調財政紀律，公開呼籲追債是地方政府去表明其認真對待這一舉措的一種方式。

中國正面臨地方政府債務問題，可能會在未來幾年拖累這個世界第二大經濟體。 高盛集團估計，中國的政府債務總額約為 23 萬億美元，這一數字包括各省市設立的數千家金融公司的隱性借款。

中國 31 個省級政府中的大多數已經超過北京設定用於表明債務風險過高的門檻指標。 雖然任何地方政府都不太可能違約，但高債務水平可能會迫使一些地方政府縮減開支。

So, in Wuhan the government publicly named hundreds of debtors in a local newspaper article demanding payment. While it is unlikely that any of the regional governments will default, the high debt levels may force some local governments to scale back spending which could affect the quality of  public service provided to the general public.