关键词: 地方政府债务, 央地关系, 经济增长模式, 财政体制改革, 主权货币制度

Abstract: The issue of local government debt is crucial to China's economic development and financial stability. As China transitions from an investment-driven economic growth model, fiscal expansion remains essential for its long-term economic growth and financial stability. In this context, local government debt faces a trilemma: the central government's fiscal balance, local governments fiscal equilibrium, and economic growth objectives are inherently difficult to reconcile simultaneously. Traditional fiscal theories and local debt governance approaches fail to recognize the disparity in institutional roles and fiscal policy space between central and local governments within a sovereign monetary system. This oversight has led to a paradoxical cycle where strict control causes stagnation while deregulation breeds disorder in local debt management. To resolve this trilemma in accordance with the operational logic of the sovereign monetary system, the fundamental approach should be: the central government adhere to functional finance principles and local governments follow balanced fiscal principles. Specifically, the central government should implement a largescale, onetime debt swap program to convert local government liabilities into central government obligations, leveraging this opportunity to advance fiscal system reform. Such reform should align with both the transformation of economic growth patterns and the imperative to constrain local government debt expansion.

Key words: local government debt, central-local relations, economic growth model, fiscal system reform, sovereign monetary system