More cash earmarked for vulnerable groups

China plans to earmark extra funds for vulnerable groups, including the homeless, orphans and low-income families, amid the novel coronavirus epidemic, a Ministry of Finance official said on Saturday.

It is part of a broader effort to minimize the financial woes of disadvantaged people after the epidemic triggered a temporary rise in some commodity prices.

The central authorities have allocated 103 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) in funds so far this year to aid vulnerable groups, said Fu Jinling, head of the ministry's Social Security Department.

For the whole of last year, such spending totaled 147.2 billion yuan, Fu told a news conference in Beijing. The epidemic has slowed the economy, fueling speculation that the government could reduce aid for vulnerable people as fiscal receipts dwindle.

But Fu said State benefits would not be affected by the epidemic. Given the size and vibrancy of the Chinese economy, the government's reserves were large and elastic enough to handle the decline in fiscal revenue, he said.

The containment measures introduced since late January－including widespread travel restrictions and self-isolation rules－have disrupted logistic chains and led to higher prices for some food and daily necessities.

The National Statistics Bureau said China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 5.2 percent year-on-year last month, down from a 5.4 percent year-on-year increase in January.

Last month's rise was steeper in rural areas, at 6.3 percent, compared with 4.8 percent in cities, and food prices increased by 21.9 percent, the bureau said.

China's remaining 5.51 million impoverished people－defined as those earning a per capita annual income of less than 2,300 yuan in 2010 and since adjusted annually for inflation－are mostly scattered across rural mountain areas.

The interruptions triggered by the outbreak have forced many rural workers to sit idle at home, depriving them of income.

To offset rising living costs, the Ministry of Civil Affairs rolled out extra subsidies to State benefits recipients late last month in Hubei province and other regions hit hard by the epidemic－500 yuan for urban residents and 300 yuan for those in rural areas.

Liu Xitang, director of the ministry's Social Assistance Department, said on Saturday it had also streamlined the application process to make it easier for people to seek aid.

In some cases, the travel bans have left some out-of-towners stranded in Wuhan, Hubei province, which has been locked down since Jan 23 to prevent the virus from spreading.

Most of the stranded people are migrant workers from rural areas. Some have run out of money to pay for accommodation and food.

Liu said that to ensure the basic living needs of stranded people are met, Wuhan's civil affairs bureau decided on Feb 22 to offer those stranded in the city 3,000 yuan in cash as an emergency allowance. It later introduced a plan to find accommodation for non-Wuhan residents.

By Friday, 69 settlements had been set up around the city, with 4,843 people who were stranded having moved in, Liu said. More than 16 million yuan in allowances has been sent to 5,839 people, he added.