PBOC Survey: More Chinese Bankers Confident in Economic Growth

     BEIJING (MNI) - Chinese bankers are more confident about the country's

economic outlook, according to the results of a quarterly survey of bankers at

about 3,200 bank branches by the People's Bank of China published on Friday.

     An index that measures bankers' confidence in macroeconomic developments

rose 7.5 percentage points from the second quarter to 75.3% in the third

quarter, the central bank said in a statement on its website. Any index reading

above 50 suggests respondents are optimistic.

     As for the "economic temperature" of the country, 74.9% of the bankers

surveyed indicated the current economy was at a "normal" temperature, 8

percentage points higher than that in the second quarter, and 23.5% of bankers

said they thought the economy was "cold," 7.8 percentage points lower than in

the previous quarter. 

     The survey also found that fewer Chinese bankers think monetary policy has

been tightened, with 22.1% believing that to be the case, 8 percentage points

lower than in the previous quarter. Nearly 75% believe monetary policy is

"appropriate," 8.5 percentage points higher than the previous quarter.

     The PBOC said demand for bank loans shrank in the third quarter based on

the survey, with its index measuring loan demand decreasing to 64.2%, compared

with a reading of 66.9% in the second quarter.

     The banking industry "Climate Index" stood at 65.8%, 0.8 percentage points

higher than the previous quarter and 3.8 percentage points higher than the same

period last year, the survey showed. 

     In its household survey covering 20,000 families, the PBOC said more people

-- 31.8% -- expect housing prices to rise over the next quarter, an increase

from 31.2% in the second quarter. Under these expectations, the survey also

found that fewer people plan to buy a house in the next three months, with the

ratio of would-be buyers at 22.5%, down from 23.1% in the previous quarter.

     An index measuring how people feel about their current income edged up 1.5

percentage points to 52.8%. Some 86.6% respondents indicated that their incomes

were higher or unchanged, an increase of 1 percentage point over the second

quarter. The index measuring confidence in future income rose to 53.3%, up 0.4

percentage point than the second quarter.

     The Q2 employment index rose 0.7 percentage point to 42.6%, and the index

on employment expectations rose 0.1 percentage point to 50.8%, the PBOC

statement said.

     Another PBOC survey of Chinese businesspeople found they are also more

confident about the economy. The confidence index for entrepreneurs from about

5,000 enterprises rose to 68.7% in the second quarter, 3.3 percentage points

higher than the second quarter and 17.5 percentage points higher than the same

period last year.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532 5998; email: marissa.wang@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: vince.morkri@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MMQPB$,M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,MT$$$$]