China’s premier, Li Keqiang, has sought to reassure jittery global investors that Beijing is ready to support the cooling economy, saying the government has the necessary policies in place and will push ahead with infrastructure investment.
Recent weak economic data and mounting signs of financial risks have dimmed the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy, sparking talk of imminent government action or even a mini-stimulus plan to shore up growth.
“They don’t want investors and businesses to lose confidence. So obviously they want to make it clear they have the ability to step in if necessary. So I think that’s probably the main point behind it,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics in Singapore.
On Friday, Li said the government had policies well prepared and would roll out targeted measures step by step to aid the economy, according to the Xinhua news agency. “We have gathered experience from successfully battling the economic downturn last year and we have policies in store to counter economic volatility for this year,” he said.
“We will launch relevant and forceful measures according to what we have planned in our government work report,” he added, referring to his report to China’s annual parliament session earlier this month.
via The Guardian
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