BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Wednesday it would maintain an appropriately loose monetary stance and roll out practical, effective measures as needed, but stopped short of signaling explicit cuts to policy rates or banks’ reserve-requirement ratio.
The People’s Bank of China will make full use of existing policies, promptly plan and roll out additional measures, step up counter-cyclical adjustment, and intensify efforts to expand domestic demand,the central bank said in its quarterly monetary policy implementation report.
The central bank will strengthen monetary policy’s coordination with fiscal policy to support economic growth and the stable operations of the financial market, it said.
“The foundation for the economy’s steady, positive momentum still needs to be consolidated,” the central bank said.
The global environment remains complex and volatile, with weak global growth, slowing trade, and imported inflation pressures pushing up prices in many countries. At home, China still faces an imbalance between strong supply and weak demand, as new challenges compound longstanding problems, it said.
China’s leaders pledged at a July meeting to support the slowing economy by accelerating fiscal spending on already-budgeted infrastructure projects in the second half, rather than rolling out major new stimulus measures.
Second-quarter growth slowed to 4.3%, the weakest pace in more than three years and below the bottom end of the government’s 4.5%–5.0% full-year target range. Still, a stronger-than-expected start to the year has given Beijing room to avoid a more forceful policy response, analysts say.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Kevin Yao; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama )
