Interest rates to stay relatively low
27 June 2005
China will keep interest rates "relatively low" in order to increase consumer spending and help reduce a trade surplus that has caused tensions with the US and Europe, state media reorted, quoting the People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan. Zhou, attending a meeting of central bankers in Switzerland, said consumer prices "are stabilizing", reducing the pressure to raise rates. The Institute of International Finance in May predicted China's economic growth this year would match the 9.5% gain of 2004, though Beijing has targeted an 8% growth rate as part of its cool-down efforts.
