Economy
U.S. calls Pan Gongsheng China’s central bank ‘head’, suggesting unannounced promotion
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), attends a news conference during the ongoing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo
By Andrea Shalal
BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States has repeatedly referred to a senior Chinese central banker as the head or acting head of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) in recent days, appearing to confirm his expected elevation to the top post.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen referred to PBOC Deputy Governor Pan Gongsheng, whom she meet during a series of meetings with top Chinese officials, as the head of the central bank during a press conference ending her visit to Beijing on Sunday.
The ruling Communist Party named Pan the PBOC party chief on July 1, a move that two policy sources said put him in position to succeed Yi Gang as central bank governor for the world’s second-biggest economy, a position nominated by the government.
The Treasury Department was already referring to Pan as central bank head after Yellen met him on Friday. She also met Yi and other officials including Premier Li Qiang, during her four-day visit.
Asked to clarify her remarks on Sunday, Yellen said: “It’s up to the Chinese side to decide and to announce their decision, but I did meet with the acting governor of the PBOC at this point, and we had very good discussions.”
The PBOC and China’s State Council Information Office, which handles media queries on behalf of the government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
Pan, 60, has been deputy governor since 2012 and is China’s top foreign exchange regulator. The expected elevation of the financial technocrat, who has done research at Cambridge and Harvard universities, points to growing concerns within the country’s leadership over systemic risks in its sprawling financial sector, policy insiders and analysts say.
Governor Yi has been widely expected to retire since being left off the ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee during the party’s once-in-five-years congress in October.
The apparent leadership shift comes as expectations rise for the authorities to take steps to boost the flagging economy. A slowdown is deepening and spreading with the waning of a burst of activity that followed the lifting of strict COVID-19 controls.
Yellen emphasized the importance of the U.S. and China cooperating on global challenges in her meeting with Pan, during a trip aimed at improving communications between two sides at odds over issues including trade and security.
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.
With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.
China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.
The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.
“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.
The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.
($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
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