How to do a good job of "seeking progress in stability" finance

Insisting on making progress while maintaining stability is a valuable experience for the financial industry to help China achieve decisive achievements in building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and continuously improve the quality and efficiency of serving the real economy, and it is also the general tone for the financial system to continue to adhere to in the next step.

At a press conference on Financial Statistics 2021 held by The State Council on January 18, Liu Guoqiang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, reiterated the above philosophy. Looking back at the work of the People's Bank of China in the past year, whether there were more positive factors in the domestic economic operation in the first half of 2021, the People's Bank actively guided the various policies of money and credit growth to return to normal, or the domestic economic development faced pressure in the second half of the year, the People's Bank coordinated the cross-year policy cohesion. Various measures to give play to the dual functions of monetary policy tools and structure, the general idea of "stability, stability and progress" has been implemented.

It is with the support of flexible, precise, reasonable and appropriate monetary policies that China's major financial indicators in 2021 will continue to maintain strong growth on the basis of a high base in 2020, the financial system is running smoothly, and the financial support for the real economy is stable. The annual corporate loan interest rate in 2021 is 4.61%, down 0.1 percentage points from 2020 and 0.69 percentage points from 2019, which is the lowest level in more than 40 years of reform and opening up. The balance of medium-term loans in the manufacturing industry and the balance of inclusive small and micro loans all achieved substantial year-on-year growth.

However, although the past few years have emphasized the "stability of the word, stability and progress", but by no means static. Under this general tone, every year, according to the characteristics of economic and financial work, the monetary policy has also made new and changes. Around the relevant work in 2022, the People's Bank of China has made it clear that it needs to exert sufficient force, precise force and forward force.

Adequate efforts are to maintain steady growth of aggregate, and to keep the growth of money supply and social financing basically in line with nominal economic growth. At present, the economy is facing the triple pressure of shrinking demand, supply shock and weakening expectations. Until the downward pressure on the economy is fundamentally alleviated, more policies conducive to stability should be introduced. Therefore, the People's Bank of China has repeatedly stressed in many recent meetings that it is necessary to comprehensively use a variety of monetary policy tools, maintain reasonable and abundant liquidity, enhance the stability of total credit growth, and increase support for the real economy. This meeting has clearly proposed that the monetary policy toolbox should be opened wider, maintain total stability, and avoid credit collapse. Of course, to make the above policies better benefit the real economy, in addition to the People's Bank of China's policies, it also depends on the implementation of the policy, so the "stability" policy is also accompanied by deepening reform. Making better use of the efficiency of the loan market quotation rate (LPR) reform and improving the formation and transmission mechanism of market-oriented interest rates will continue to be important aspects of promoting the stable and stable decline of enterprises' comprehensive financing costs and the continued transfer of profits from the financial system to the real economy.

The focus of accurate force is on the steady optimization of the structure. To do a good job in financial work, we should not spread "pepper" widely, but should make precise efforts to better support areas and weak links in accordance with the requirements of the new development concept. At present, the macro leverage ratio continues to decline, which creates space for the future financial system to increase support for small and micro enterprises, scientific and technological innovation, and green development. In fact, recently, the People's Bank of China has taken many measures to promote the implementation of structural policies. In accordance with the deployment of the Economic Work Conference, the People's Bank of China further increased cross-cycle adjustment efforts, did a good job of cross-year policy cohesion, actively used structural monetary policy tools to do a good job of "addition", implemented the continuous conversion of two direct tools, and issued the first batch of carbon emission reduction support tool funds. These measures will not only help stabilize the total amount of credit and optimize the credit structure, but also help facilitate a smooth start to 2022 across the cycle, and will continue to guide financial institutions to provide effective support in a market-oriented way to better optimize the economic structure.

Proactive means forward-looking policies. According to the 2021 economic data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, China's gross domestic product (GDP) has exceeded the 100 trillion yuan mark for the second consecutive year, an increase of 8.1% year-on-year, and an average growth of 5.1% for two years, which is unique among the world's major economies. However, we must also face up to the multiple pressures facing China's economic development. At the end of last year, economic growth slowed slightly, the consumption index declined, and difficulties and challenges in all aspects increased significantly. To this end, monetary policy should stay ahead of the market curve and respond promptly to the general concerns of the market. In order to increase liquidity supply, hedge the impact of short-term factors such as the January tax peak, the accelerated issuance of government bonds, and cash injection before the Spring Festival in advance, and maintain reasonable and abundant liquidity, the People's Bank of China launched 700 billion yuan 1-year medium-term lending facility operations and 100 billion yuan 7-day open market reverse repurchase operations on January 17. We pushed the winning interest rate of the medium-term lending facility and open market reverse repo down by 10 basis points, which is the embodiment of forward-looking policy regulation.

The more challenging the moment, the more confidence, the more calm and resolute. In the past year, China's economic development and epidemic prevention and control have maintained a global position. This is our confidence and confidence, and it is an important foundation for China to strive to achieve high-quality economic development in the future. At present, the financial authorities have released a clear policy signal. The financial system should integrate steady growth, structural adjustment and reform, provide stronger, more precise and better support for the real economy, stimulate the vitality of various market players, and bring high-quality development to a new level.