Mar. 24 – China could release another stimulus package should figures for the second quarter of the year be below expectations, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Finance.

The head of the Research Institute of Fiscal Science, Jia Kang, told China Securities Journal that the stimulus package launched last November won’t produce results in the short term, so the economic data for the second quarter will likely indicate whether more stimulus measures are required.

He added, “The second-quarter economic figures can be estimated as early as June.”

He suggested that the new stimulus package should go to more government-backed financing measures for the rural economy and smaller companies, as well as an emphasis on more public spending.

The World Bank recently changed its forecast for China’s economy from 7.5 percent to 6.5 percent because of shrinking exports.

China is expected to cope with the global recession better because unlike other countries that will need to rehaul their financial system; the country’s state-owned banks are actually lending more.

The director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, Zhang Yutai, said he expects the two-year package contributing 1.5 percentage points to 1.9 percentage points to China’s economic growth this year.