China’s fiscal revenue rose 6.3 percent year on year to 2.74 trillion yuan ($421.3 billion) in the first two months of 2016, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on March 16.

The data came after China’s fiscal revenue logged its slowest pace since 1988 last year as the broader economy slowed.

During the January-February period, fiscal spending expanded 12 percent to 2.12 trillion yuan.

To cushion the blow from sagging revenue growth and balance the need for proactive fiscal policy to support growth, China plans to increase its deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3 percent this year from 2.3 percent last year.

Government deficit for 2016 is projected to be 2.18 trillion yuan, an increase of 560 billion yuan over last year.