Wider China budget deficit doesn't signal strong stimulus: official

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's wider fiscal deficit rate budgeted for 2016 should not be considered as strong stimulus and the government still has ample policy tools to counter downward economic pressure, a senior official of China's cabinet research unit, said on Saturday. Huang Shouhong, deputy director of the State Council Research Office, also told reporters at a news conference that China should take various measures to keep the property market stable. China budgeted a 2016 deficit of 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the Ministry of Finance said on Saturday in its work plan unveiled at the annual meeting of parliament. The fiscal deficit to GDP ratio was budgeted at 2.3 percent in 2015. (Reporting By Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)