WORLD IN BRIEF - CHINA - Austerity Plan Seen as Partial Success
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China’s yearlong austerity program achieved some success in harnessing runaway economic growth and stabilizing prices but failed to solve serious defects in state planning, according to a report published in the official China Daily. Food retail prices had not risen since December, but the report acknowledged that huge government subsidies were a main factor in keeping prices down. The austerity program, imposed last fall, was designed in part to control economic growth, which soared to 20.7% last year to 8% in 1990. Economists predict the growth rate will be about 11.5% and retail sales will be up only 15%, compared to a 27.8% jump in 1988.
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