Chapter 24 The national budget must ensure key construction and take care of people's lives[1]

(November 13, 1956) (1) In 1956, the socialist transformation was basically completed, and the production of agriculture, heavy industry and light industry all increased. (2) The cause of national construction in 1956 was successful.Most of the investment in capital construction and other undertakings in 1956 were correct, but some were incorrect.Of the 30.8 billion yuan (old price [2]) budgetary expenditure, 2 billion to 3 billion yuan was spent inappropriately or too much, of which capital construction investment accounted for about 1.5 billion yuan. (3) In 1956 the people's living conditions improved and employment increased, and the people were happy.However, the improvement of people's lives must be gradual, and checks must not be written too much.Excessive demands and things that cannot be done for the time being must be openly and repeatedly explained to the people.

(4) In the budget for 1957, the revenue and expenditure were 30.865 billion yuan (including 215 million yuan of self-raised funds. The old price of 30.865 billion yuan was 31.765 billion yuan).In budgetary expenditures, economic construction expenditure is 15.726 billion yuan, social culture and education expenditure is 3.93 billion yuan, national defense expenditure is 5.7 billion yuan, administrative expenditure is 2.5 billion yuan, debt expenditure is 842 million yuan, and foreign aid and other expenditures are 641 million yuan. , the national material reserve expenditure is 500 million yuan, the credit fund is 500 million yuan, and the total reserve fee is 526 million yuan.In the economy, culture and education, national defense, and administrative expenditures, the capital construction investment totaled 12.673 billion yuan (equivalent to about 13.573 billion yuan), of which 215 million yuan was self-raised funds.The 1957 budget was balanced, but tighter, and this should be combined with a cash balance.

(5) There is only so much money and materials. In some respects, the annual plan for 1957 must be appropriately compressed compared to 1956, so as to ensure key construction and take care of the people's living needs.The focus of compression is on the center, and the local areas should be compressed as much as possible.Even so, on the whole, our construction work is still progressing, because the income and expenditure in 1957 both increased compared with this year. The income increased by 2.25 billion yuan, or an increase of 8.2%; An increase of 3.2%.With regard to the issue of compression, reasonable arrangements must be made so that there are no troubles.Insufficient materials should first support the necessary production while paying attention to balance.

(6) To launch a campaign to increase production and save money among the entire Party and the people of the whole country. [3] Increase production must be carried out under the conditions of guaranteed raw materials and social needs, and at the same time must ensure quality and reduce work-related accidents.Savings are promising and must be pursued without compromising quality and reducing work-related accidents.In terms of enterprise, undertaking and administrative expenses, extravagance and waste must be opposed, a style of hard work and plain living should be advocated, and strict economy should be practiced.In terms of production and capital construction, it is necessary to save raw materials, appropriately reduce costs and construction costs, and practice strict savings.

(7) Domestic class contradictions have been basically resolved, but attention should be paid to the activities of some counter-revolutionaries that still exist.With regard to the transformation of the old ideas and habits of the bourgeoisie and intellectuals, we must continue to carry out long-term education under the policy of consolidating and uniting them.The solution to the problems among the people and within the Party is not to adopt large democracy but to adopt small democracy.You must know that from the perspective of the people, all major democratic movements in history were used to oppose class enemies.

Printed from originals kept at the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] This is the main point of Mao Zedong's speech at the meeting of the group leaders of the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. [2] Refers to 1955 prices. [3] On February 15, 1957, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Instructions Concerning Launching the Campaign to Increase Production and Conserve Production in 1957."The directive proposes: to make appropriate adjustments to the scale of construction in 1957, to carry out specific analysis of the construction projects originally scheduled to start in 1957, and to rearrange them; Necessary construction projects should be included in the annual plan, and the projects that have been constructed last year should also be queued up, and those projects that are still possible and necessary to continue construction this year should be included in the annual plan.In industrial and agricultural production, and in transportation, post and telecommunications and commercial operations, we must do everything possible to carry out extensive campaigns to increase production and save money, and to overcome all kinds of waste.Significantly reduce administrative costs, strictly limit the increase of personnel, rationally adjust existing institutions and personnel, gradually change some unreasonable wage and welfare systems, and completely eliminate extravagance and waste.