BEIJINGâ€"Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao declared that policies meant to prevent a rapid economic slowdown must be applied decisively, suggesting that Beijing is leaving the door open for more-aggressive measures.
"No matter the fiscal policy or the monetary policy, we cannot afford to wait and see and miss the right timing," he said in a state radio broadcast Sunday. "We must implement the policies in a timely manner if we believe they're right."
In a decisive shift in rhetoric, Mr. Wen vowed earlier in the weekend to make growth a higher priority, various state media reported. The official Xinhua News Agency on Sunday quoted him as saying, during a visit to Hubei Province from Friday to Sunday, that China will put more emphasis on ensuring steady growth while maintaining a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy.
"To prevent the economy from slowing down too rapidly is of great urgency," Mr. Wen said, according to state radio.
The comments indicate that recent weakness in the economy has caused serious concern among its top leaders, and strongly suggest more stimulus measures ahead.
During the National People's Congress in March, Mr. Wen defended the reduction in the nation's 2012 growth target, to 7.5% from the 8% of the past several years, saying slower growth would help China restructure and reform its economy.
But concerns over slowing growth have intensified since April produced a raft of weak economic data, with growth slowing in industrial production, imports, exports, fixed-asset investment and bank lending.
Mr. Wen said over the weekend that the authorities will respond to the new problems in the economy with timely fine-tuning.
Sounding notably less hawkish about the real-estate market, he said the government will stabilize property-market regulation and strictly implement differentiated measures in credit supply, tax policy and purchase limits. Largely absent from his remarks over the weekend were what had become the typical vows to resolutely maintain curbs on apartment purchases and to see that prices reach "reasonable levels." That's likely to prompt speculation that Beijing is softening its stance.
China's property market is looking increasingly distressed, with April housing sales, land sales and construction starts down from a year earlier, and property investment slowing sharply over the same period.
The real-estate market contributes around 13% of China's gross domestic product, and the government's property policies are closely watched. A tightening campaign targeted at curbing runaway prices has achieved some success in the past two years, but analysts said that Beijing has to calibrate the measures to prevent a hard landing for the property market.
Mr. Wen also said the government will speed up the expansion of a pilot tax overhaul. Under the program, begun in Shanghai, certain industries had their business tax replaced with a lower value-added tax starting this year.
His comments follow a series of stimulus measures unveiled in recent weeks to bolster the economy. China's railways minister said Friday that the government is studying initiatives to broaden financing channels for the sector and to encourage private investment. On Wednesday, Beijing announced new subsidies for purchases of energy-efficient appliances, and last weekend, the central bank lowered banks' reserve requirement ratio, freeing up additional cash for lending.
â€"Liyan Qi
No comments:
Post a Comment