Local government debt must be properly supervised

A recent audit found that the debt of nine cities exceeded 100 percent. Government debt needs to be supervised, said a column in People's Daily (excerpts below).

How could this happen? One primary cause is absence of supervision.

The government has to submit its annual budget to the local People's Congress for approval. However, many local governments do not include debt in their report.

Without supervision, and pressure to repay, many local governments simply start projects without considering their own financial capacity. A general practice is to leave the debt to those who come next.

But exorbitant debt might be a risk for the local economy, even threaten long-term development. These questions should arouse our concern. It is necessary to supervise local government debt, and, more important, take the debt into consideration while evaluating local government chiefs. Only by matching power with responsibility will government chiefs really care about debt.