China News Service, January 13th (Shao Wanyun, Zhongxin Finance and Economics) On the 13th, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on financial statistics in 2022. The relevant person in charge of the central bank discussed real estate, platform company rectification, RMB exchange rate, inflation, digital RMB and other issues Responded.

Introduce structural tools to focus on supporting the smooth operation of the real estate market

  Zou Lan, director of the Monetary Policy Department of the People's Bank of China, said at the meeting that recently we have been researching and launching several other structural tools, mainly focusing on supporting the smooth operation of the real estate market, including the Guaranteed Housing Loan Support Program, the Housing Lease Loan Support Program, private enterprise Bond financing support tools, etc., will be disclosed and released in detail after they are released.

  In addition, at the end of September last year, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice, clarifying that eligible city governments can independently decide to relax the lower limit of interest rates for new first-home loans in the fourth quarter.

According to Zou Lan, the interest rate of newly issued personal housing loans in December was 4.26% on average nationwide, which is the lowest level in history since the statistics began in 2008.

  Zou Lan also said that in response to some adjustments in the real estate market, the People's Bank of China, together with relevant departments, will make efforts from both supply and demand sides in accordance with the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to promote the stable operation of the real estate market.

With the gradual emergence of relevant policy effects, the financing environment of the real estate industry, especially high-quality real estate companies, has improved significantly in recent times.

From the data point of view, from September to November last year, real estate development loans increased by more than 170 billion yuan, an increase of more than 200 billion yuan year-on-year.

In the fourth quarter of last year, domestic real estate corporate bonds issued more than 120 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22%.

  In terms of risk prevention, relevant departments have drafted the "Action Plan for Improving the Balance Sheet Plan of High-quality Real Estate Enterprises".

The action plan focuses on high-quality real estate companies that focus on the main business, operate in compliance with regulations, have good qualifications, and have certain systemic importance, and focus on promoting the four aspects of "asset activation", "liabilities continuation", "equity supplementation" and "expectation improvement", a total of 21 We will implement comprehensive policies to improve the cash flow of high-quality real estate enterprises, and guide the balance sheets of high-quality real estate enterprises to return to the safe range.

The plan sets the conditions for high-quality real estate enterprises, and there is no specific list, which is independently controlled by financial institutions.

A building sand table displayed in a commercial housing sales center.

(Data map) Photo by Han Zhangyun

The rectification of 14 large platform companies including Ant Group has basically been completed

  According to Ma Jianyang, head of the Financial Market Department of the People's Bank of China, since November 2020, the financial management department has directed and urged 14 large platform companies such as Ant Group to deal with unlicensed operations, regulatory arbitrage, disorderly expansion, and consumption violations that existed in financial businesses in the past. Prominent issues such as the rights and interests of investors have been solidly rectified.

At present, most of the problems have been basically rectified, large platform companies operate in compliance with laws and regulations, compete fairly, consumers' awareness of protection has been significantly enhanced, and financial services have been continuously regulated.

  At the same time, the financial management department issued a series of targeted institutional documents in the fields of third-party payment, personal credit investigation, Internet deposits, insurance, securities, and funds. It has laid a good institutional foundation for subsequent normalized supervision.

  Ma Jianyang said that in the next step, the financial management department will conscientiously implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Central Economic Work Conference, adhere to the "two unwavering" principles, adhere to equal emphasis on development and regulation, and support the healthy development of the platform economy.

  The first is to continue to promote the relevant platform companies to speed up the rectification of the remaining few problems, and complete the rectification work from the beginning to the end.

The second is to improve the level of normalized supervision, further improve the supervision system and mechanism, strengthen the construction of supervision and technology capabilities, support the compliance operation of platform companies, develop financial services steadily and prudently, and have zero tolerance for illegal financial activities.

The third is to study and formulate financial support measures to promote the healthy development of the platform economy, support platform companies to improve their technological innovation capabilities and service quality and efficiency, consolidate and enhance international competitiveness, and show their talents in leading development, creating jobs, and international competition.

It is expected that my country's inflation level will remain moderate in 2023

  Zou Lan said that from a global perspective, last year experienced a wave of high inflation that has not been seen in decades. In stark contrast, my country has maintained a basically stable price level, which is not easy.

In the past five years and ten years, the average annual increase of consumer prices in my country has generally remained at around 2%.

This fully proves the superiority of my country's socialist system and the effectiveness of macro-control.

  Zou Lan mentioned that in 2023, my country's inflation level is expected to remain moderate overall, but attention should also be paid to the potential for a rebound in inflation.

  On the one hand, my country's overall supply is abundant, demand is still recovering, and there has been no excessive currency issuance in the past, so inflation is expected to remain stable.

At present, my country's economy is still in the process of recovery and development. The industrial chain and supply chain are relatively smooth. Insufficient effective demand is still the main contradiction, and the output gap is still negative.

In the short term, inflationary pressures are generally controllable.

In the medium and long term, my country is one of the world's major producers, with a generally balanced economic supply and demand, stable monetary policy, stable inflation expectations of residents, and favorable conditions for maintaining a basically stable price level.

  On the other hand, the uncertainty of the price trend still exists, so we should not take the inflation situation lightly, and we must keep a close eye on the potential possibility of its future heating up.

Domestically, for a period of time, my country's M2 growth rate has been relatively high, which does not rule out that the impact on prices is a manifestation of a lag.

With the optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures, residents' consumption momentum will be gradually released, and aggregate demand may also be accompanied by a certain upward pressure on inflation after it tends to heat up.

From an international perspective, geopolitical conflicts still disturb the global energy supply, and inflation in developed economies is still high, so imported pressure also needs to be vigilant.

  In the next stage, the People's Bank of China will adhere to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, organically combine the implementation of the strategy of expanding domestic demand with the deepening of supply-side structural reforms, highlight the work of stabilizing growth, employment, and prices, and the prudent monetary policy is accurate Strong, taking into account the short-term and long-term, economic growth and price stability, internal balance and external balance, strengthen coordination and cooperation among policies, and promote the effective improvement of quality and reasonable growth of the economy.

Increase credit support for private small and micro enterprises

  Ma Jianyang mentioned that in recent years, due to the repeated impact of the epidemic and the unstable international situation, my country's economy is facing greater downward pressure, making it more difficult for private enterprises to operate.

The People's Bank of China has continued to improve the financing environment for private small and micro enterprises by innovating structural monetary policy tools, improving credit support policies, and expanding diversified financing channels.

  In the next step, the People's Bank of China will adhere to problem orientation, focus on social concerns, guide financial institutions to treat enterprises of all types of ownership equally, and create a better financial environment for the development and growth of the private economy and private enterprises.

  The first is to further increase credit support for private small and micro enterprises, continue to make good use of structural tools, and increase efforts.

The second is to further expand the bond financing scale of private enterprises.

The third is to further improve the level of financial services for private small and micro enterprises.

The fourth is to further promote the standardized and healthy development of platform companies.

Maintain the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level

  Since 2022, major developed economies such as the United States, the Eurozone, and the United Kingdom have sharply tightened monetary policies and raised interest rates, which has caused a tightening effect on the global financial system, and emerging market economies are facing pressure to flow out of cross-border funds.

  Xuan Changneng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said that the market has certain expectations for the Fed to raise interest rates in 2023.

The autonomy and stability of my country's financial system have been enhanced, and the RMB exchange rate is expected to be stable. These will help buffer and deal with external risks, especially the spillover effects brought about by interest rate hikes in developed economies.

In general, the monetary policy adjustments of developed economies have limited impact on my country, and may have a greater impact on other relatively small emerging market economies.

  With regard to the RMB exchange rate situation, since mid-November 2022, with the effective implementation of domestic economic stabilization policy measures, the introduction of optimized epidemic prevention and control measures and financial support for real estate policies, coupled with market expectations that the Fed will slow down the pace of interest rate hikes, the US dollar index The high level fell back, and the RMB exchange rate against the US dollar gradually turned to an appreciation trend. On December 5, the spot exchange rate rose back to within 7.0.

  Xuan Changneng said that the current and future trend of the RMB exchange rate will be affected by multiple factors such as domestic and foreign economic and financial situations, balance of payments, and market risk appetite, and short-term uncertainty is inevitable.

Overall, there is a solid foundation for maintaining basic stability.

  Recently, China's economy has generally continued to recover, and the epidemic prevention and control has been dynamically optimized. In the context of high global inflation, we have maintained basic stability in prices. Considering the decline in the economic prosperity index of major economies, the growth rate of my country's trade surplus may fall. .

Under the comprehensive effect of various forces, my country's RMB exchange rate will generally maintain a stable operation.

After years of financial reform and opening up, the depth and breadth of my country's foreign exchange market have been greatly improved, the flexibility of the RMB exchange rate has increased, market expectations have been stable, cross-border capital flows have been orderly, and the balance of payments has been independently balanced. The RMB exchange rate will continue to maintain a basic balance at a reasonable and balanced level. Stablize.

RMB.

Photo by Liu Yanghe, Sino-Singapore Finance and Economics

Digital RMB included in M0

  From December 2022, financial statistics will include digital renminbi data into the M0 (currency in circulation) statistical caliber.

  In this regard, Xuan Changneng said that the digital renminbi is a digital form of legal tender issued by the People's Bank of China. Like the physical renminbi, it is essentially a currency component.

From the perspective of statistics and management, it is necessary to carry out combined statistics, combined analysis and overall management of the two.

  Xuan Changneng further stated that in recent years, with the gradual deepening of the digital renminbi pilot, the application scenarios of digital renminbi have steadily expanded, the transaction amount and stock have also continued to increase, and the relevant management and statistical systems have been continuously improved.

Incorporating digital renminbi into M0 statistics can more accurately reflect the overall scale of currency in circulation.

By the end of 2022, the stock of digital renminbi in circulation will be 13.61 billion yuan. After being included in M0, the year-on-year growth rate of M0 will be 15.3%.

(Finish)