Central Bank: Moderately adjust the benchmark deposit interest rate in a timely manner
Targeted and accurate support for key companies in the list to fight the epidemic
Recently, the market is generally concerned about the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic on the economic and financial fields. In response, Liu Guoqiang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, responded recently.
Adjust the benchmark interest rate of deposits in a timely and appropriate manner
Liu Guoqiang said that in the next step, the central bank will continue to maintain a reasonable and sufficient liquidity and promote LPR (basic loan interest rate, that is, the loan interest rate that commercial banks execute on their best customers, and other loan interest rates can be added or subtracted based on this) reform Continue to unleash the potential of financial institutions to reduce loan interest rates, promote a noticeable decline in the actual interest rate of loans, and ensure significant progress in resolving the difficulty of financing small and micro enterprises. In addition, the benchmark interest rate for deposits is the "ballast stone" of China's interest rate system and will be retained for a long time. In the future, the People's Bank of China will, in accordance with the State Council ’s deployment, comprehensively consider the fundamental conditions of economic growth and price levels, and make timely and appropriate adjustments.
When talking about the current trend of currency and credit, Liu Guoqiang said that, on the whole, sound monetary policy supports the real economy. First, loans maintained a good growth momentum in January. Second, the credit structure has been further optimized, and corporate loans have increased significantly. In the month, loans were mainly directed to the corporate entity sector. Third, the new crown pneumonia epidemic also affected the loans to a certain extent at the beginning of the year. On the one hand, consumer loans decreased significantly during the epidemic period, and increased significantly in January from a year earlier. On the other hand, the change from January 31 to a holiday led to the delay of some of the loans due in February until the repayment in February, which made it more difficult for loan growth in February. The loan data of the previous two months should be combined and observed.
The impact of the epidemic on credit growth will gradually fade
Liu Guoqiang pointed out that the new crown pneumonia epidemic will cause some disturbance to credit growth in the short term. For example, affected by the epidemic, residents reduced spending on catering, entertainment, shopping and tourism, and consumer loans may decline temporarily. Affected by delays in the resumption of work and production, the demand for loans related to manufacturing and real estate investment will also be delayed. However, it should be noted that these effects are temporary. With the positive progress of epidemic prevention and control and the resumption of production and business, the impact on credit growth will gradually fade.
On the whole, in 2020, credit is expected to maintain steady growth, and the growth of monetary credit and social financing will continue to be compatible with economic development.
The downward pressure on the economy caused by the epidemic is mainly short-term
How will the epidemic affect China's economy? How does the central bank evaluate?
Regarding this issue of general public concern, Liu Guoqiang said that the new crown pneumonia epidemic may affect the Chinese economy to a certain extent, but the duration and scale are limited, and the fundamentals of China's long-term good and high-quality growth have not changed. Liu Guoqiang pointed out that from the recent data released one after another, China's economy has a foundation for stable growth, and the market is expected to be stable.
He also pointed out that the market generally believes that the impact of the epidemic on the economy is a short-term shock, and the foreign exchange market can repair itself after a short-term shock. In the long run, the trend of the exchange rate depends on economic fundamentals. The fundamentals of the long-term improvement of China's economy have not changed, foreign exchange reserves are sufficient, and the spread between domestic and foreign currencies is still in an appropriate range. These have provided fundamental support for the RMB exchange rate.
Increase support for companies severely affected by the epidemic
Liu Guoqiang said that in the next step, he will continue to coordinate the work of "six stability", scientifically grasp the counter-cyclical adjustment efforts, and prudent and appropriate monetary policy should be flexible and appropriate to minimize the impact of the epidemic on the economy.
First, continue to make good use of the special refinancing policy. Targeted and accurate support for key enterprises in the list to fight the epidemic. The second is to play a supporting role in structural monetary policy tools. Supporting agriculture, supporting small refinancing and rediscounting tools is not a list system, but is inclusive. The third is to further play a supporting role of policy banks. For example, the Agricultural Development Bank shall specifically support the development of the entire industrial chain of pigs, fill the financing gap of commercial finance, and meet the needs of pig production funds during epidemic prevention and control. The fourth is to maintain a reasonable and sufficient liquidity to guide the overall market interest rate downward. Fifth, according to the actual situation of epidemics in different regions, research on measures such as unified and automatic rollover of loans already issued. Do not report overdue records of corporate loans affected by the epidemic and fail to make timely repayments, and provide preferential policies in the classification of loan risks. Encourage financial institutions and enterprises to negotiate and reduce the new loan interest rates, and increase the financial impact on the enterprises affected by the epidemic. Support.
Text / reporter Jie Cheng