KEEPING CALM:China’s growth remains gloomy, analysts said, but policymakers are confident they can meet a five-year 6.5% growth target without monetary stimulus
Taipei Times
Date: Mar 13, 2016
By: Bloomberg
China’s industrial production and retail sales both slowed in the first two
People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, center, waits while a moderator gestures to a reporter at a media conference in Beijing on Saturday. Photo:AP
months of the year, highlighting the pressure leaders are likely to face to meet this year’s annual growth target, even as the central bank governor said major stimulus was not needed.
Industrial output rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier in January and last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday, compared with the 5.6 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Retail sales climbed 10.2 percent from a year earlier, missing the 11 percent projected gain in the survey, while fixed-asset investment exceeded estimates with a 10.2 percent increase.
The reports highlight the choice facing policymakers: step up monetary and fiscal stimulus and build up more debt, or let the nation’s industrial engines slow further while reducing overcapacity in the steel, cement and coal sectors. [FULL STORY]
