China's monetary authority will maintain a prudent monetary policy in the second half of this year, although some external factors may add to economic growth pressure, according to the country's central bank.
The growth pace of M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, slowed to 8.1 percent by the end of July, its lowest level since December 2018, data from the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said on Aug 12.
New yuan-denominated loans stood at 1.06 trillion yuan ($150.06 billion) in July, down from 1.66 trillion yuan in June and 1.18 trillion yuan in May, falling short of analysts' expectations, according to the official data.
Total social financing, which includes off-balance sheet forms of financing such as initial public offerings and loans from trust companies, fell to 1.01 trillion yuan in July, from 2.26 trillion yuan in June, the central bank reported.
All the fresh financial indicators have indicated a cautious policy stance by the central bank, without further monetary easing since the second half, said analysts.
In the latest quarterly issued monetary policy report, the central bank said it would keep its prudent monetary policy "neither too tight nor too loose" and make adjustments in a timely and moderate manner in the July-to-December period.
Measures will also be taken, to keep liquidity at a reasonable and ample level, as "counter-cyclical adjustments" to stabilize economic growth in the following months, it said.
China's central bank didn't follow some other central banks across the globe by lowering interest rates. Central banks in New Zealand, Thailand and India announced larger-than-expected interest rate cuts last week, following the US Federal Reserve's rate-cut decision, getting prepared for a worsening global economic outlook.
For China, further monetary policy easing is not recommended as the actions already taken have been sufficient, are still being taking effect, and core inflation remains anchored, said a report from the International Monetary Fund released on Aug 9 in Washington.
