MNI Press Digest Feb 10: No ​RRR Cuts, Housing, Consumption

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

The PBOC is less likely to cut banks' required reserve ratios after the sector reported record-high aggregate financing and loans, the Securities Times said citing Wen Bin, the chief analyst with Minsheng Bank. Aggregate financing to the economy surged four times to CNY5.17 trillion from CNY1.72 trillion in December while new loans tripled to CNY3.58 trillion. However, credit data in January could be misleading since banks loaned more for backlog projects from last year, said Zhang Xu, the chief fixed-income analyst with Everbright Securities. Companies' financing demand remains strong and the economy was showing no signs of overheating, the newspaper said citing Zhang.

China will continue to curb excessive speculation in the real estate market through strengthening regulations, policy reforms, and increasing housing supply, the Xinhua-owned Economic Information Daily said in an editorial. Regulators should closely monitor market changes in cities with growing population, a better economy and active private capital markets and close regulatory loopholes, the newspaper said. China should accelerate its housing land supply system reform and property tax reform to both curb speculation and fulfil real housing needs, the editorial said.

Consumer demand and the recovery of small businesses could be the main growth drivers for China in 2021, Chen Changsheng, a director from the Development Research Center of the State Council said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency. China should devise policies to raise resident incomes and ensure supply to boost consumer confidence, Xinhua reported citing Chen. The government should maintain stable policies to consolidate growth, Chen said.