BEIJING — China has allocated a total of 71.85 billion yuan (about $10.3 billion) of fiscal funds to support the control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the country's finance minister said on Feb 9.

As of 6 pm, Feb 8, 31.55 billion yuan of the funds were spent, said Finance Minister Liu Kun at a national teleconference.

Liu stressed that supervision should be strengthened to ensure those in need get the funds.

The central fiscal authorities will continue to roll out favorable policies to support epidemic control, Liu said.

As businesses of some small enterprises were hit hard during the Spring Festival holiday, fiscal authorities at all levels should be prepared to ease their difficulties as they resume production, Liu said.