US$967m irregular debts found

China has uncovered irregular local government debts worth of over 6.4 billion yuan (US$967 million), authorities said.

Five local governments in Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hunan and Hainan provinces had raised the debts through irregularly offering commitment letters, according to an audit report in the third quarter by the National Audit Office.

The audit findings also showed that 10 cities and counties in Yunnan, Hunan and Jilin provinces as well as Chongqing had inflated their fiscal revenues by a total of 1.5 billion yuan.

At the same time, around 800 million yuan had been recouped after auditors found that Anji county in Zhejiang Province had exaggerated the investment volume and borrowed the money from banks against rules. Four people held accountable had been punished, the NAO said.