PBoC remarks indicate severity of slowdown

China’s central bank said Thursday that stabilizing economic growth will become a bigger priority, reflecting its growing concern over the country’s slowdown, The Wall Street Journal reported. The People’s Bank of China, in its second-quarter monetary policy report, reiterated that it is focused on growth, economic restructuring and managing inflationary expectations, but added that it will “put stabilizing growth in a more important position.” While the PBOC warned that efforts to stimulate the country’s economy could lead to inflationary pressures, Zong Liang, an economist at the state-run Bank of China, said that there may be room for further monetary loosening. President Hu Jintao made similar remarks on stability recently, but this is the first time the central bank used that language. The change signals that the bank is treating the slowdown as a greater risk to the Chinese economy.  China’s GDP grew 7.6% in the second quarter.