China’s economy next year still faces relatively large downward pressure and the speed of economic growth might fall further, a top planning body’s think tank said, recommending more monetary policy easing, the Economic Daily reported on Sunday.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) think tank recommended that China’s government continues to cut interest rates and banks’ reserve requirement ratio to bolster flagging growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
China should also give way to pressure on yuan depreciation to boost exports, the think tank said.
Beijing has been struggling to reach its economic growth target of about 7 percent this year, despite a raft of policy easing steps in recent months.
China’s top leaders have started an annual meeting to map out economic and reform plans for next year, state media reported on Friday.
The central bank has also been notable for its lack of a response to the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike on Wednesday last week.
The think tank predicted that investment growth could fall to about 9 percent next year. From January to November this year, fixed-asset investment growth was 10.2 percent year-on-year.
Real-estate investment might be flat, the report said.
Consumption growth could face a year of single digit growth next year, while exports might grow slightly, the think tank said.
It recommended expanding China’s fiscal deficit to support major projects and possibly issuing more central and local government bonds.
The stock market should be stabilized and efforts made to fend off a risk of large-scale capital outflows, it said.
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