BEIJING, Aug 2 (Reuters) – China’s central bank pledged to adjust monetary policy tools in a timely manner and facilitate panda bond issuance, a statement showed on Sunday.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will continue to implement an appropriately loose monetary policy and maintain ample liquidity, according to the readout of a work meeting on Saturday to map out the second half of the year.
The PBOC statement pledged to “steadily promote the high-level opening of the financial market… advance domestic and international infrastructure cooperation, and enrich liquidity management and risk hedging tools.”
It would “continue to financially support debt risk resolution of local government financing vehicles, and promote their market-oriented transformation,” it added.
As well as supporting more overseas institutions issuing yuan-denominated bonds, known as panda bonds, the central bank would help Shanghai enhance cross-border finance and offshore financial services, and consolidate Hong Kong’s position as an offshore yuan hub, the statement said.
The meeting, headed by PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng, followed a call by the Communist Party’s Politburo on Thursday to accelerate the pace of fiscal spending on already budgeted infrastructure projects in the remainder of the year.
Data released last month showed economic growth at 4.3% in the second quarter, its slowest in more than three years and missing the lower end of a full-year target of 4.5% to 5.0%.
The Politburo, a top party decision-making body, acknowledged “difficulties and challenges facing the economy” at its meeting, the official Xinhua news agency said.
China must “accelerate the pace of fiscal expenditure” and enhance the flexibility and forward-lookingness of monetary policy, a summary of the discussion showed.
(Reporting by Yukun Zhang and Ryan Woo; Writing by Greg Torode; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Kate Mayberry)
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