The central bank has reiterated its commitment to stick to the "moderately loose" monetary policy that, according to it, has helped spur economic growth and revive the stock and property markets.
"In the period ahead, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) will unswervingly implement the appropriately loose monetary policy while fine-tuning policy with market-oriented tools in line with economic changes at home and abroad," the bank said yesterday in its quarterly monetary policy report.
While the US and Western economies have faced a credit crunch, there is a credit feeding frenzy in China. During the first half of this year, banks have lent nearly 7.4 trillion yuan - far exceeding the country's initial full-year target of disbursing 5 trillion yuan in loans.
The record lending spree - equal to one-quarter of the nation's total economic output in 2008 - could escalate bad debt problems and create inflationary pressure, analysts said.
"Although the PBOC's statement is in line with government's tone of sticking to the moderately loose monetary policy, it has already initiated some micro-tightening measures like open market operations and the banking regulator's call for stricter credit management," Liu Yuhui, director of the Center for Chinese Economic Evaluation at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily.
