PBOC May Loosen Further in H1 to Boost Growth: Herald

The People’s Bank of China is likely to cut reserve requirement ratios or even interest rates in the first half of next year, tilting monetary policy looser to help stabilize growth as signaled by the Politburo meeting this week, 21st Century Business Herald reported citing analysts. Currently, GDP growth is below the potential growth rate with inflation concerns eased, so stimulating demand is a necessary, the newspaper said citing Zhang Jiqiang, deputy research head of Huatai Securities. But the PBOC may not want to send too strong a loosening signal, and it may take time to cut interest rates before the U.S. enters an interest rate hike cycle in H2 2022, the newspaper said citing Zhang.