We Are not Alone...

From Guardian.co.uk:

China swung into a deficit in 2008 after a huge burst of government spending in the year's final weeks to combat the economic slowdown, the Ministry of Finance revealed in data published on Sunday.

Combined spending of central and local governments was 1.66 trillion yuan ($243 billion) in December, up 30.8 percent on a year earlier. That far outstripped fiscal revenues of 325.0 billion yuan in the month, an increase of 3.3 percent on a year earlier, the ministry said on its website (www.mof.gov.cn).

The result was a striking reversal in the Chinese budget picture. China closed its books on 2008 with an implied public deficit of about 111 billion yuan after entering the final month sitting on a surplus of 1.2 trillion yuan.

The mild deficit, amounting to roughly 0.4 percent of gross domestic product, still leaves Beijing with ample room to open its cash taps and cut taxes, cushioning drops in export income and private investment.

China ran a surplus of 0.7 percent of GDP in 2007, according to official figures.