China signals potential reserve requirement cut for banks

China’s financial leaders are hinting at a potential move that could give the country’s banks a bit more breathing room. With an economy that’s been like a roller coaster stuck on the world’s most confusing track, these hints come as a beacon of light—or maybe just a flashlight with dying batteries. The people in charge of China’s central bank have shared that they’re open to loosening up the strings a bit more to keep the growth train chugging. But don’t get too excited; they’re not talking about raining money from the sky.

Pan Gongsheng, the Governor People’s Bank of China, shared with journalists that there’s a little wiggle room to reduce the cash stash banks are required to hold. In simpler words, he’s thinking about letting banks keep less money on hand, which is kind of like telling your kids they can spend a bit more of their allowance but still need to save for college. He’s also looking at ways to gently push up consumer prices without causing a shopping cart crash in the middle of the economic supermarket.

This chat happened during China’s big annual parliamentary meetup, where everyone who’s anyone in China’s economic circles gathers to talk shop. Here, they promised to stick to an ambitious growth goal of around 5% for the year while keeping a close eye on the budget gap.

Premier Li Qiang talked up a big game about transforming China’s economy. This is amidst economic struggles that include a property market doing its best impression of a sinking ship, local governments drowning in debt, and a consumer market that’s as enthusiastic as a teenager asked to clean their room.

Despite these ambitious plans, China managed to pull a rabbit out of its hat with a GDP growth of 5.2% last year. This was quite the magic trick, especially considering the country was shaking off the daze from its strict “zero Covid” nap. But the rabbit’s looking a bit thin these days, with consumer and producer prices doing a nosedive.

China’s playbook includes a mix of monetary policy magic tricks, with the most recent being a cut in the reserve ratio requirement for banks. This move, which was larger than what the financial fortune tellers had predicted, unlocked a treasure chest of 1 trillion yuan (about $139.8 billion) in long-term capital. The idea is to grease the wheels of the economy by making it cheaper for businesses and people to borrow money.

Meanwhile, Zheng Shanjie, who’s in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, talked about strengthening macroeconomic policies. This means they’re trying to coordinate different economic levers to keep the economy humming along. Zheng acknowledged that there are more than a few bumps on the road to reaching their growth targets. He pointed out the complexities of the external environment and the internal challenges, like tearing down provincial barriers to business and spurring competition in some industries.

On trading, China’s facing headwinds, with the Commerce Minister noting a tough road ahead. Yet, there’s a silver lining with exports in the early part of the year showing a bit of pep. Meanwhile, the Finance Minister is on damage control duty with the local debt situation, assuring everyone that it’s “controllable” and outlining plans to manage hidden bad debts.

Special bank notes are also being used by the government to support innovation, energy security, and other important areas. They’re betting that plans to upgrade equipment will boost demand and help them build a market worth more than 5 trillion yuan, which is about $694.5 billion. Because of the real estate market slowdown and other economic problems, local demand has been as slow as a snail. This effort is meant to speed it up.