BEIJING -- The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, reaffirmed Monday that it would give more prominence to stabilizing prices, and implementing a prudent monetary policy during the next year.# t& n( _6 l/ r8 E. @/ n# w
Further, China will make its monetary policies more targeted, flexible, and effective, employing multiple monetary tools to control liquidity and guide the credit growth back to a normal level, said an online statement summarizing a meeting of the PBOC's monetary policy committee.
. G1 V4 K+ Q6 E$ ]& L& t- B' f4 b The statement came one day after the 25-basis-point interest rate hikes went into effect on Sunday./ z" \0 G7 E1 t% w+ e7 S# N
More credit should be channeled into the real economy, especially into programs concerning agriculture, the countryside, farmers, and medium-sized and small enterprises, to help promote the strategic and economic restructuring, the statement said.
' O W0 H( I( X) G3 r' ]% ] Those attending the meeting also agreed to further improve the yuan exchange rate formative mechanism, and to keep the yuan exchange rate "basically stable at a reasonable level."
" [+ L" m3 Z; L. E An upward momentum in China's economy has been further consolidated, but the country also faces tough tasks in controlling credit and liquidity growth as well as warding off financial risks.$ l/ \5 S# ^; o
China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, accelerated to a 28-month high in November of 5.1 percent, while new loans reached 7.45 trillion yuan (about US$1.11 trillion) in the first 11 months of this year, compared to the government's full-year target of 7.5 trillion yuan.
6 x. U2 B7 s. |/ M- s6 i7 I8 _5 X The PBOC announced Saturday that it would raise the one-year lending and deposit interest rates for the second time this year, in an effort to fight rising inflationary pressures |