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 

摘要： 地方政府债务问题事关我国经济发展和金融稳定。我国正处于投资主导型经济增长模式的转型期，财政扩张对于经济增长和金融稳定是长期必要的。在此背景下，地方政府债务面临着三难问题，即中央政府财政平衡、地方政府财政平衡和经济增长这三个目标难以兼顾。传统的财政理论和地方政府债务治理思路没有认识到中央政府和地方政府在主权货币体系中地位和财政政策空间的差别，这使得地方政府债务问题陷入“一管就死，一放就乱”的困局。按照主权货币制度运动规律的内在要求，破解地方政府债务三难问题的总体思路应是要求中央政府遵循功能财政原则，地方政府遵循平衡财政原则。中央政府应推出大规模的一次性债务置换计划，将地方政府债务转化为中央政府债务，并以此为契机推进财政体制改革。财政体制改革应与经济增长模式转型的目标相一致，与约束地方政府债务扩张的目标相一致。

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