Central bank official advocates leveraged buyouts

The deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China said the mainland should encourage leveraged buyouts to boost the development of its economy, the South China Morning Post reported. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Su Ning said, "We shouldn’t veto the plan too develop leveraged deals because of the US financial crisis. We also need more merger and acquisition deals to bolster the private economy." He added that the government should speed up reforms and innovations of the financial sector to help counteract a weakening economy. Most of China’s government officials favor tight regulation of financial markets, and Su’s comments are a rare example of senior government officials calling for dramatic liberalization of China’s finance sector, the paper said.