Confidence improves amid inflation worries
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
March 20, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AMID growing public concern about inflation, Chinese entrepreneurs and bankers are more confident in the country's economic outlook, the latest reports from the central bank revealed yesterday.
The entrepreneurs' confidence index rose 7.6 percentage points to 68 percent in the first quarter of this year from the fourth quarter in 2012, the People's Bank of China said in a report, citing results from a survey of more than 5,700 Chinese entrepreneurs.
In a separate report based on a survey of 3,100 bankers, the PBOC said their first-quarter confidence index was up 17.2 percentage points to 72.2 percent from the previous quarter.
The data marked the second quarter of recovery since confidence dipped to a low in the third quarter, when China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent, the lowest pace in more than three years, on the back of worsening external demand and domestic property cooling policies.
Growth quickened to 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter on the government's pro-growth measures, and many analysts have forecast that the economy will expand by about 8 percent in the first quarter.
Though the country's economy is improving, the PBOC surveys found that more people are concerned about price increases.
Of the 20,000 savers the central bank surveyed, around 62.1 percent considered prices "high and hard to accept" in the first quarter, up 3.6 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to the reports.
The latest official data showed that China's Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, jumped 3.2 percent in February, a 10-month high.
The central government announced earlier this month that its target of gross domestic product growth will remain around 7.5 percent this year and that it aims to control inflation within 3.5 percent.
Yesterday's reports also show that home prices are still a major issue of public concern, with 68 percent of people surveyed describing prices as "high and hard to accept," up 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Between January and March, 14.8 percent of the people surveyed by the central bank planned to buy houses in the next three months, a fall of 0.6 percentage point from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, 34.4 percent of the respondents expected prices to increase in the next quarter, a rise of 5.2 percentage points from the previous quarter and 16.7 percentage points more than the same period a year earlier, according to the PBOC.
The entrepreneurs' confidence index rose 7.6 percentage points to 68 percent in the first quarter of this year from the fourth quarter in 2012, the People's Bank of China said in a report, citing results from a survey of more than 5,700 Chinese entrepreneurs.
In a separate report based on a survey of 3,100 bankers, the PBOC said their first-quarter confidence index was up 17.2 percentage points to 72.2 percent from the previous quarter.
The data marked the second quarter of recovery since confidence dipped to a low in the third quarter, when China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent, the lowest pace in more than three years, on the back of worsening external demand and domestic property cooling policies.
Growth quickened to 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter on the government's pro-growth measures, and many analysts have forecast that the economy will expand by about 8 percent in the first quarter.
Though the country's economy is improving, the PBOC surveys found that more people are concerned about price increases.
Of the 20,000 savers the central bank surveyed, around 62.1 percent considered prices "high and hard to accept" in the first quarter, up 3.6 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to the reports.
The latest official data showed that China's Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, jumped 3.2 percent in February, a 10-month high.
The central government announced earlier this month that its target of gross domestic product growth will remain around 7.5 percent this year and that it aims to control inflation within 3.5 percent.
Yesterday's reports also show that home prices are still a major issue of public concern, with 68 percent of people surveyed describing prices as "high and hard to accept," up 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Between January and March, 14.8 percent of the people surveyed by the central bank planned to buy houses in the next three months, a fall of 0.6 percentage point from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, 34.4 percent of the respondents expected prices to increase in the next quarter, a rise of 5.2 percentage points from the previous quarter and 16.7 percentage points more than the same period a year earlier, according to the PBOC.
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