MNI China Press Digest Feb 15: PBOC, Real Estate, SOE Profits

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Tuesday:

• The People’s Bank of China is likely to keep a looser policy to support growth with cutting rates or banks’ reserve ratios remaining possible, the China Securities Journal said citing unidentified analysts. For this week, the central bank's task may be to prevent excessive liquidity and make smaller injections given less maturing MLFs, smaller government debt issuances and tax remissions, the newspaper said. Short-term money market rates may continue to drop as more funds flow back to banks after the Lunar New Year holiday ended, the journal said.
• China’s real estate market has improved as the government introduced a slew of favorable policies including easier financing, the China Securities Journal reported. New loans to the property sector increased CNY600 billion in January, the newspaper citing data from unidentified banks. Personal mortgage loans will accelerate this year, and lending to better-positioned developers will rise to help stabilize the property market, the newspaper said citing Lian Ping, the chief economist of Zhixin Investment Research Institute. Real estate investment may return to growth of 1% to 2% this year, the newspaper said citing analysts.
• China’s central government-owned enterprises made CNY185.27 billion in combined profits in January, up 11.3% from a year ago, with revenues gaining 12.4% to CNY3 trillion, the Economic Daily reported. The output of coal and sales of refined petroleum products and steel all rose, the newspaper said. Last year, the government tasked central SOEs with helping support economic growth and ensuring revenues and profits grow at rates faster than the GDP, said the daily.