UN urges China to spend more on health, education
November 17, 2008
The United Nations urged China on Sunday to provide education, health and other basic services for its people, arguing it would help boost consumer spending at a time when it is sorely needed. China can afford it, given its 1.9 trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves and budget revenues equivalent to more than 20 per cent of its gross domestic product, said Khalid Malik, the UN’s top official in China. “The government’s agenda places priority on providing basic services, and its fast-paced actions to do so will go a long way to ease the challenges at home and abroad from the financial crisis and economic slowdown,” he said.
“These timely actions can make people feel more secure to consume and in turn help realise China’s urgent goal of keeping a high economic growth rate,” he said in a statement.
Malik made the remarks as the UN published a comprehensive report, “Access for All”, on ways to promote development in the world’s most populous nation.
The report made a series of policy proposals, including guaranteed access to essential health service, free compulsory education and a basic old-age pension. Currently, none of these are universally available, and especially the countryside lags behind.
“In terms of the size of the population it is to impact on, this effort is unprecedented in the world’s history,” said Chi Fulin, president of the China Institute for Reform and Development, the think-tank that prepared the report.
“In terms of its role in the building of an all-round well-off society, it will be as spectacular as the market-oriented economic reform in the past 30 years.”
China has said repeatedly that it wishes to boost private consumer spending as a new source of overall economic growth. However, hundreds of millions of Chinese prefer to save rather than consume, figuring that they need money for a rainy day, given the lack of government spending on health, education or retirement systems.
Source: The Bangladesh Today
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