Monetary adjustments step up to support growth

BEIJING: China will strengthen policy adjustments to create a monetary and financial condition accommodative for boosting economic growth, expanding employment, stabilising price levels and maintaining the balance of international payments, deputy central bank governor said.

Sticking to the principle of financial activity serving the real economy, the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, will implement sound monetary policy and step up countercyclical and cross-cycle adjustments, said Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the PBOC.

The central bank will facilitate financial resources to better support the key areas and weak links of economic and social development, promoting China’s high-quality economic development with high-quality financial services, Pan said during a group interview hosted by the press center for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Meanwhile, the nation will deepen market-oriented reform of the exchange rate and keep the renminbi exchange rate generally stable at an appropriate and balanced level, said Pan, who is also head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

He added the country will advance high-level two-way opening of the financial sector, actively participate in international financial governance and sharpen its capacity for financial regulation.

According to Pan, the nation’s financial system has made significant achievements in the past decade, with its strength in green, inclusive and digital finance among the front rank and the renminbi seeing a substantial rise in global status.

The Chinese currency has become the third top currency in terms of share in the basket that makes up the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights and more than 80 countries and economies have included the renminbi as one of their reserve currencies, Pan said.

The size of China’s foreign exchange reserves has been the biggest in the world for 17 consecutive years, he said, adding that the country’s banking system also has the biggest asset size worldwide.