China's fiscal revenue down 1.6 pct in first two months

前两个月中国财政收入下降1.6%

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- China's fiscal revenue dipped 1.6 percent year on year to nearly 4.39 trillion yuan (about 611.59 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months of the year, according to data from the Ministry of Finance released on Monday.

新华社北京3月24日根据财政部24日（星期一）发布的数据，今年1至2月，全国一般公共预算收入同比下降1.6%，约为4.39万亿元人民币（约合6115.9亿美元）。

The central government collected nearly 1.95 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, down 5.8 percent year on year, while local governments collected nearly 2.44 trillion yuan, up 2 percent year on year.

中央财政收入近1.95万亿元人民币，同比下降5.8%，地方财政收入近2.44万亿元人民币，同比增长2%。

China's fiscal expenditure expanded by 3.4 percent year on year to nearly 4.51 trillion yuan in the first two months. The central government's fiscal expenditure rose by 8.6 percent year on year, while there was a 2.7 percent increase in expenditure by local governments during the same period.

前两个月，中国财政支出同比增长3.4%，达到近4.51万亿元人民币。中央政府财政支出同比增长8.6%，同期地方政府支出增长2.7%。

In breakdown, education expenditure hit 737.7 billion yuan, up 7.7 percent year on year, science and technology expenditure exceeded 112.2 billion yuan, a 10.6 percent year-on-year increase, and expenditure on social security and employment hit 854 billion yuan, up 6.7 percent year on year.

其中，教育支出7377亿元，同比增长7.7%；科学技术支出1122亿元人民币，同比增长10.6%；社会保障和就业支出8540亿元，同比增长6.7%。