BEIJING — China will boost fiscal support to secure guarantees for the basic life of impoverished people affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic, a senior official said on March 14.

Noting the epidemic has taken a toll on impoverished people and raised their living costs, China has earmarked 103 billion yuan (about $14.7 billion) for supporting basic livelihoods of people living in poverty, Fu Jinling, an official with the Ministry of Finance, told a press conference.

The ministry has urged local authorities to launch the mechanism linking social aid level with inflation in a timely manner and provide living subsidy to impoverished people in full, Fu said.

In response to temporarily raised living costs for the impoverished population, he added that the ministry will allow local departments to offer more subsidy to ease their financial strain as their income was weighed down by halted work.