Debt hangover to give nation the budget blues

In the third in a series on the 'new normal' economy, Zheng Yangpeng reports on efforts to resolve local government finances.

The nation is pursuing a more proactive fiscal policy in 2015 to offset the economic slowdown. But for experts familiar with China's public finances, there is a worrying source of uncertainty - that of local governments' off-budget spending.

The target for the national budget deficit this year is 1.62 trillion yuan ($260 billion), which would be 270 billion yuan wider than last year's, according to the annual Government Work Report. This year's figure represents 2.3 percent of GDP, up from 2.1 percent last year.