China will stick to a relatively loose monetary stance in the second half of this year, with an emphasis on implementing policy flexibly, the People’s Bank of China said yesterday.
In a statement on its Web site, the central bank said it would combine its various policy tools, including open market operations and required reserves, in an appropriate way to further improve the management of banking liquidity.
The notice was in line with the bank’s previously stated stance. China’s economic leaders have ruled out major shifts in coming months by repeatedly pledging to maintain consistency and stability in fiscal and monetary policy.
‘Relatively Loose’
“We will implement well our relatively loose monetary policy and strike a balance between economic growth, adjusting the structure of the economy and managing inflation expectations,” the central bank’s statement said.
The statement summarized a meeting of the bank’s leadership on how to implement the latest guidance on the economy given by the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo and the State Council, China’s Cabinet.
Politburo Control
The Politburo has said it will maintain its control over China’s booming property market, while promoting stable export growth to strengthen the country’s recovery.
The central bank, which met late last week in the northwestern city of Lanzhou, said it would do its bit to promote the healthy development of the real estate sector by continuing to stipulate different mortgage rates for different types of home buyers.
Beijing has introduced a large number of policy instruments to slow the growth of property prices in big cities, including higher mortgage rates and requiring down payments for non-owner-occupiers.
‘Reasonable’ Lending
The central bank said it would instruct banks to ensure a “reasonable” pace of lending and would curb credit to energy-intensive industries.
Beijing is on a drive to meet ambitious energy-efficiency targets by the end of the year, a campaign that some economists say was a reason why the manufacturing sector cooled further last month, a survey released yesterday said.
The bank reaffirmed its intention to improve the access of peasants to financial services and to support government plans to accelerate the economic development of poorer western China.
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