<China> Monetary Policy--->Steady as she goes.
Lee:
Stable Yuan it is.
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4/20/99
China Central Bank and Monetary Policy
BEIJING - China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, plans to maintain its current monetary policy through the second quarter, including keeping the yuan stable and increasing money supply, Xinhua News Agency said Monday.
Fast money supply growth during the first quarter this year reflects the effectiveness of central bank policy in helping to spur economic growth, said top PBOC officials during a recent policy meeting, according to Xinhua.
As reported, China's broad measure of money supply, M2, rose 17.8% by the end of March from the year-earlier period to CNY10.844 trillion. The growth in M2 was 2.5 percentage points faster than the growth recorded at the end of 1998. The central bank plans to increase M2 by 15% in 1999 from 1998.
Meanwhile in the first quarter, bank loans and deposits continued to grow at a fast rate, China's yuan exchange rate remained stable and foreign reserves continued to increase, Xinhua said.
China's outstanding loans totaled CNY8.783 trillion at the end of March, an increase of 15.7% from the year-earlier period, while total deposits rose 18% on year to CNY9.944 trillion. Foreign reserves reached $146.6 billion at the end of March, from $145 billion at the end of 1998.
For the second quarter, the PBOC plans to continue with first quarter's policy, while increasing efforts to guard against financial risks and halting deflation, the report said.
The central bank also called on financial institutions to boost lending to agriculture, infrastructure, technical upgrade and development projects, as well as extend consumer loans and loans to exporters.
(Courtesy: Xinhua)
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