China's central bank stresses implementation of prudent monetary policy

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank said that this year it had sought progress while giving the stability of macro policies top priority, pursued a prudent monetary policy that is flexible, moderate, and strengthened the counter-cyclical adjustments.

The central bank has used a mix of policy tools, such as interest rates, the required reserve ratio and central bank lending, providing support for the real economy, forestalling financial risks, and creating a sound monetary and financial environment for economic recovery, said the Monetary Policy Committee of the People's Bank of China after its quarterly meeting on Friday.

The central bank has achieved remarkable results in the loan prime rate reform, and it has given full play to the role of the mechanism for market-oriented adjustments of deposit rates, it said, adding that the monetary policy transmission has become more efficient, and the financing costs for the real economy have continued to decline.

Supply and demand in the foreign exchange market have been basically in equilibrium, current account surplus has remained stable, and foreign exchange reserves have been adequate, it noted.

The RMB exchange rate has moved in both directions with stabilizing expectations and remained basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level, according to the meeting.

It was stressed at the meeting that the external environment is becoming increasingly complex and severe as world economic growth is sluggish, inflation is expected to fall from a high level but is still sticky, and economic growth and monetary policies diverged in major economies.

China's economy has witnessed an ongoing recovery, improvement and solid progress in high-quality development, but it still faces challenges such as insufficient effective demand and weak social expectations, it added.

The central bank will implement a prudent monetary policy in a precise and effective manner, strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments, and give full play to the role of monetary policy instruments in adjusting both the aggregate and the structure, the statement said, adding that it will focus on expanding domestic demand and boosting confidence to promote the virtuous circle of the economy. ■