China's central bank promises funding to private companies

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Wednesday met with bank and private sector representatives and pledged to improve private companies’ access to funding. According to a statement released by the People’s Bank of China this morning, the PBOC called on financial institutions to provide more support to private companies at the meeting. Beijing is trying to revive confidence in the world’s second-largest economy as recent economic indicators show the property market weakening further, deflationary pressures persist, and exports and consumer spending falling. So far, authorities have promised to improve the business environment and encourage private firms to invest more. Still, the measures announced so far have targeted specific sectors such as property finance and the stock market, and fall short of the monetary and fiscal stimulus of previous crises. “The PBOC’s latest steps have been more ‘piecemeal’ measures. A major hurdle for the Chinese economy this year has been the failure of the reopening to re-instill confidence in the private sector,” said Tommy Xie, economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.