China’s central bank to keep monetary policy accommodative

BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) — China’s central bank will continue to keep its monetary policy accommodative to better support the country’s high-quality economic development, said the bank’s deputy governor on Thursday.
The central bank will use a combination of monetary policy tools to maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity, guide banks to seek more stable and sustainable loan growth, and keep the scale of social financing and money supply in line with the expected targets for economic growth and price levels, Lu Lei, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) told a press conference.
The central bank will give full play to the role of the recently lowered policy interest rates and loan prime rates in promoting a steady decline in corporate financing and household credit costs, said Lu.
Efforts will be made to improve the efficient use of funds and increase quality financial services for major strategies, key areas and weak links, Lu said.
PBOC official Zou Lan told the press conference that the central bank will continue to enrich the monetary policy toolbox, and the latest example is the inclusion of government bond operations.
The move is intended to serve as a channel for base currency issuance and a tool for liquidity management. This approach is designed to work in conjunction with other instruments to make short-, medium- and long-term liquidity management more scientific and precise.
The central bank conducted open market government bond transactions in August, resulting in a net purchase of bonds with a face value of 100 billion yuan (about 14.09 billion U.S. dollars).
When asked how much room there is for interest rate and reserve requirement ratio cuts, and how necessary it is to conduct such cuts in the rest of the year, Zou said the policy effect of reserve requirement ratio reduction at the beginning of the year continues to manifest, and future adjustments should be in accord with the economic trends. ■