CHINA VOWS TO STICK TO PRUDENT POLICIES
PBoC confident it can prevent systemic risks
SHANGHAI
PEOPLE’S Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan says the nation’s expected 6.5 per cent growth target for this year is “within reach” and financial risks are well under control.
China was confident of preventing and eliminating systemic risks, and would keep pursuing a prudent and neutral monetary policy, said the central banker in a statement dated April 22 on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) website during his Washington DC meeting with the IMF committee.
The country would keep applying a “full range” of monetary policy tools to keep liquidity broadly stable and to guide market interest rates in a reasonable manner, said Zhou in the statement, adding to a reiterated pledge on active fiscal policy.
Zhou’s statement struck a positive tone, saying that the nation’s corporate and financial risks were in check and economic growth resilient. Figures released on April 17 showed China’s economy accelerated for a secondstraight quarter as investments picked up, retail sales rebounded and factory output strengthened amid robust credit growth and further strength in property markets.
China would further improve its macro-prudential policy framework, a system it has used to gauge risks to the financial system, to address potential systemic risks, said Zhou.
Finance Minister Xiao Jie voiced similar confidence about reaching growth targets based on the current economic situation, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.
In Washington, a senior IMF official said China should open up its services sector to ease trade tensions with the United States and bolster global trade.
The medical, health, legal and financial services sectors were among areas that could be liberalised, said IMF Asia-Pacific director Changyong Rhee.
“China can gain a lot by opening its services sector,” said Rhee.
The comments come after President Donald Trump agreed with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to a 100-day review on trade relations, and as the US Commerce Department studies how to address its trade deficits with foreign countries, including the US$347 billion (RM1.52 trillion) gap with China last year. Bloomberg