The government plans to take further steps to slow down some
rapidly-expanding industries, a senior government official was quoted as saying
Monday.
The government will start issuing June economic data this week, which
analysts will watch for any hints on how recent policies to rein in credit and
investment are working.
"Currently, fixed-asset investment, money and credit are growing at a fast
clip while trade imbalances are striking," the China Buiness News quoted Jia
Yinsong, an official at the National Development and Reform Commission, as
saying.
"Relevant government departments are discussing and formulating measures for
macro-economic adjustments," Jia was quoted as saying.
A recent investigation by the commission, the country's top planning agency,
showed that investment growth in a dozen industries, including automobile,
steel, copper and cement, had accelerated, Jia said.
As a result, the commission had raised its forecast of annual fixed-asset
investment growth for the whole of 2006 to 18 percent from 16 percent, Jia said.
The agency would tighten its controls on new investment projects and push
outdated factories toward closures and take steps to stabilize raw material
prices, Jia added.
The newspaper quoted Wang Yanxiu, an official at the country's banking
regulator, as saying the central bank might raise interest rates and let the
yuan strengthen gradually.
The central bank, worried that a flood of liquidity could fuel economic
overheating, raised bank lending rates in late April and increased banks'
reserve requirements from July 5.
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