China to adjust monetary policy on changes in economic condition

BEIJING: China will adjust its monetary policy in accordance with changes of economic indicators and feedbacks from policy implementation, said central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan on Saturday.

Zhou made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

"It's difficult for us to anticipate all the possible scenarios and changes in indicators. Therefore, our policy will be adjusted according to changes in economic indicators and feedbacks from implementation," said Zhou.

"We are going to continue with a moderately easy monetary policy but at the same time closely follow the inflation issue and changes in other economic indicators," he said, noting that inflation control will be very complicated this year.

China will face the issue of withdrawing its economic stimulus package sooner or later, but "the timing of the exit must be treated with great caution", he said.

The country has shifted its monetary policy from "tight" to "moderately easy", together with a 4-trillion-yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package in late 2008 to help the national economy ride out the global slowdown.

A total of 9.6 trillion yuan of new loans was pumped into the nation's economy in 2009, nearly double the 2008 figure of 4.9 trillion yuan.

China will enhance the focus and flexibility of the policy according to new conditions and strike a balance between inflation expectation management and maintaining a sound growth, Zhou said.