BEIJING, Sept 29 (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Thursday it would step up efforts to consolidate the economic recovery, citing several risk factors for the global economy while pledging to implement monetary policy prudent and to maintain reasonably abundant liquidity.
The People’s Bank of China (PBC) also announced that it is committed to ensuring labor market and price stability and will seek to reduce the cost of corporate finance and consumer credit.
“Global economic growth is slowing, inflation remains high, geopolitical conflicts continue, the external environment is becoming more complex and severe,” she said in a statement after a quarterly meeting of her Monetary Policy Committee.
She added that while China’s economy continues to recover, it “still faces the triple pressure of contracting demand, supply shocks and weakening expectations.”
Beijing has implemented a series of measures in recent months to support the economy, but the recovery remains fragile due to the “zero COVID” policy and the collapse of the real estate market.
Other measures cited by the central bank include the greater use of special loans for the conclusion of housing sales and its desire to encourage commercial banks to financially support this initiative.
The PBC also pledged to keep the yuan exchange rate stable, improve currency flexibility, and guide businesses and financial institutions to adhere to the concept of “risk neutrality.”
After eight consecutive sessions of decline, the Chinese currency has rebounded, moving away from the 14-year low hit the previous day against the dollar, after the central bank on Wednesday warned against speculative trading in the currency. (Report Kevin Yao and the Beijing office, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Nicolas Delame)