This outcome was hardly surprising given the combination of the large fiscal injection,
the relaxation of fiscal rules on local government debt, the substantial liberalisation of the financial sector and, especially, the politicisation of the whole stimulus effort. Altogether,these factors created an extraordinarily enabling environment, and it was welcomed by local governments (and ministries) whose incentives were all in favour of expansion.13 And they were aided by banks – especially state-owned banks that had been told by the government to open their spigots. Loan officers, too, were eager to expand their balance sheets, especially for investments that appear to be essentially risk-free since they are implicitly or explicitly guaranteed by the government.