China Says It Will Not Alter Economic Policy Dramatically

China will not dramatically alter its economic policy because of any one economic indicator, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said on Sunday, in remarks that came days after many economists lowered growth forecasts having seen the latest set of weak data.

Lou made the comments at a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the G20 countries in Australia, according to a statement from the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank.

“China will not make major policy adjustments due to a change in any one economic indicator,” he said.

 
Economists dialed back their growth forecasts last week after data showed factory output grew at its weakest pace in nearly six years in August.

China’s total social financing aggregate, a broad measure of lending in the economy, was the weakest in nearly six years, data showed earlier this month, indicating credit levels were far below average.

China cannot rely on government spending to increase infrastructure investment, Lou added.

The economic stimulus measures adopted by China to confront the international financial crisis had boosted economic growth, but they also brought excess capacity, environmental pollution, and the growth of local government debt along with other problems, Lou said. As a result, China cannot completely rely on public financial resources to make large-scale investments in infrastructure.

via Reuters

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