- Central bank highlights support to techology, green sectors
- It also pledges to expand domestic demand, boost confidence
China’s central bank vowed to step up existing monetary policy and stimulate consumer prices, which last month continued their slide, falling at the steepest pace in three years.
The People’s Bank of China vowed to implement a prudent monetary policy in targeted and effective manner and reaffirmed its pledge to push consumer prices higher, according to a statement Thursday following the bank’s quarterly monetary policy committee meeting.
The central bank said it will “promote price recovery from low levels and keep prices at reasonable levels.” It also strives “to expand domestic demand, boost confidence, and promote a virtuous economic cycle.”
Those pledges are a repeat of commitments in the third quarter following a regular meeting of the committee. The latest comments come as data showed China’s consumer prices falling in November and producer costs extending declines, underscoring the challenges facing the economic recovery.
“The main challenge for China’s economy in 2024 may be whether policies can mitigate deflation risks,” Tommy Xie, head of Greater China research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., said in a note Friday.
“If deflation risks persist longer than expected in 2024, China may resort to more aggressive easing measures such as interest rate cuts or restarting the