Cut reserve requirements, "there is still some room"!

On September 5th, Zou Lan, director of the Monetary Policy Department of the People's Bank of China, said at a press conference at the State Council Information Office that the effect of the reserve requirement ratio cut at the beginning of the year is still evident, and the average statutory deposit reserve ratio of financial institutions is currently around 7%, with some room for further reduction.

Zou Lan stated that in terms of interest rates, the People's Bank of China continues to push for the stabilization and reduction of the comprehensive financing cost of society. At the same time, it is also necessary to recognize that the further downward pressure on deposit and loan interest rates is subject to certain constraints due to factors such as the shift of bank deposits to wealth management products and the narrowing of bank net interest margins.

The central bank discusses the buying and selling of government bonds: it is positioned for basic currency injection and liquidity management.

Zou Lan stated at the press conference that the People's Bank of China mainly positions the buying and selling of government bonds for the purpose of basic money injection and liquidity management. It can both buy and sell, and through flexible coordination with other tools, enhance the scientific and precise management of short, medium, and long-term liquidity.

The People's Bank of China: Monetary policy prioritizes supporting domestic economic development, intensifying countercyclical adjustment at the aggregate level.

Zou Lan stated that China's monetary policy will continue to adhere to the principle of putting domestic considerations first, prioritize supporting domestic economic development, intensify countercyclical adjustment at the aggregate level, flexibly use a variety of monetary policy tools, and maintain reasonable growth of monetary credit supply.

The People's Bank of China discusses the reform of the monetary policy framework: gradually shifting focus away from quantitative targets, studying and improving the statistical criteria for money supply.

Zou Lan stated that the central bank is considering optimizing the middle variable of monetary policy regulation. In recent years, China's economic structural transformation has accelerated, the financial market has been developing, and the financing structure has been constantly changing, all of which have led to a decrease in the measurability, controllability, and relevance of the money supply to the economy. We will gradually reduce our focus on quantity targets, treating them more as observational, referential, and anticipatory indicators, and pay more attention to the role of price-type regulatory tools such as interest rates. At the same time, in combination with changes in the situation, we will research and improve the statistical caliber of the money supply to make monetary statistics more consistent with the actual situation.

Central Bank: There are two stages in the monetary policy transmission process, and there are still obstacles to be removed from the financial market to the real economy.

Zou Lan stated that the central bank will further facilitate the transmission of monetary policy, which actually consists of two stages. One is the transmission from the central bank to the financial market, where by strengthening policy communication and expectation guidance, enhancing the transparency of monetary policy, and strengthening the ability of financial institutions to independently and rationally price, the quality and efficiency of financial services can be further improved. The other is the transmission from the financial market to the real economy, which requires efforts to remove transmission bottlenecks, strengthen the coordination of monetary policy with fiscal, industrial, and regulatory policies, promote supply and demand balance, shift more economic policy focus to areas that benefit the people and promote consumption, enhance the transmission effect of real economic variables such as consumer investment, and strengthen the emphasis on financial services.

The People's Bank of China: By the end of June, the cumulative trading volume of digital RMB has reached nearly 7 trillion yuan.

Deputy Governor of the central bank, Lu Lei, stated at a press conference that China is developing a digital yuan system, aiming to create a new digital form of the yuan issuance and operation system to meet the conditions of the digital economy. This is a comprehensive reform to support the development of China's digital economy, enhance the level of inclusive financial development, and improve the efficiency of currency and payment systems. After more than 6 years of research and over 4 years of testing, the feasibility and reliability of the digital yuan in theoretical business and technology have been preliminarily verified, aiming to achieve better compatibility between the digital yuan and the digital economy, with overall progress going smoothly. As of the end of June this year, the cumulative transaction amount of the digital yuan has reached nearly 7 trillion yuan.

Central Bank: The current number of high-risk small and medium-sized banks has been reduced by nearly half from its peak.

Lu Lei stated that the People's Bank of China continues to improve its risk prevention and disposal mechanisms to maintain the bottom-line of non-occurrence of systemic financial risks. The number of high-risk small and medium-sized banks has been reduced by nearly half from its peak.

State Administration of Foreign Exchange: Over 40 currencies are now available for trading in China's forex market.

On September 5, Li Hongyan, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, stated at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that currently, China's foreign exchange market has more than 40 tradable currencies, and the variety of trading products has also covered international mainstream foreign exchange products. Let me report a few data points: in the first 7 months of this year, the total transaction volume of China's foreign exchange market was close to 23 trillion US dollars, an increase of 8.7% year-on-year; during the same period, the number of merchants conducting foreign exchange risk hedging for the first time exceeded 0.02 million, helping more enterprises to use foreign exchange derivatives products to better manage exchange rate risks.

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