BEIJING, Nov 5 — Chinese officials reaffirmed today the country’s pro-growth policy stance even though the economic recovery is now seen as being on solid ground.
Guo Qingping, an assistant governor of the People’s Bank of China, told a financial forum that the central bank would stick to its “appropriately relaxed” monetary policy stance and ensure an appropriate amount of liquidity in the banking system.
Guo’s comments came a day after the Federal Reserve said it would keep borrowing costs near zero for “an extended period” even as it expressed growing confidence that the US economy was regaining strength.
Li Yang, a former adviser to China’s central bank, told a separate forum the government may use a web of regulations to tweak monetary conditions without changing the broader policy background.
“For example, if we want to control bank lending, we previously used measures like required reserve ratios, but these measures were not effective enough,” Li Yang, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters.
“However, there are a lot of things that can be done in terms of regulation. For instance, if the capital adequacy ratio was increased to 10 per cent from 8 per cent, few banks would be able to lend,” he said.
Chen Dongqi, a senior government researcher, said that China’s gross domestic product could rise 10.5 per cent next year, mainly thanks to recovering exports.
Exports may rise 10 per cent next year and inflation will pick up but remain less than 3 per cent in all of 2010, said Chen, vice-head of the macroeconomic institute under the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency.
Yao Jingyuan, the chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics, told the Economic Information Daily that China must maintain “consistency and stability” in its macro-economic policies, at least for now.
“China’s economy is like a car halfway up a hill. You can’t take your foot off the accelerator at the moment,” Yao was quoted as saying by the Beijing paper.
But he added that China did not need a second stimulus package as economic growth this year would reach at least 8 per cent — the totemic target set by the government.
Guo from the PBOC said there were more and more positive economic signs.
“The momentum of stabilisation and improvement has become more clear-cut,” Guo said.
Looking ahead, Yuan Gangming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the official Xinhua news agency that China might need to raise interest rates in the second half of next year if consumer inflation exceeds 3 per cent. — Reuters
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