Investors hoping Beijing would unveil concrete plans on Saturday for its fiscal stimulus rollout were left largely in the dark, reports Reuters. While the country’s finance minister, Lan Foan, reiterated the government’s intent to revive the mainland’s struggling economy – through supporting consumers, restructuring the property sector and taking on more debt – he was light on details, analysts say.
Huang Yan, an investment manager at private fund company Shanghai QiuYang Capital, described Lan’s briefing as disappointing. “There’s no timetable, no amount, no details of how the money will be spent,” he told Reuters. “If that’s what we have in terms of fiscal policies, the stock market bull run could run out of steam.”
The Chinese stock market rallied three weeks ago, after the People’s Bank of China announced its heftiest stimulus measures since the Covid-19 pandemic ended. But the stocks have already started to falter as particulars have failed to materialise.
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HSBC’s chief Asia economist Fred Neumann advised investors to be patient. He noted that concrete numbers would be more likely to arrive at the end of October, when the standing committee of the National People’s Congress meets to review and vote on specific proposals.
On Saturday, Lan assured the public that Beijing would help local governments tackle their debt problems, offer subsidies to people with low incomes, support the property market and replenish state banks’ capital by up to a trillion yuan, along with other measures.
The central authorities’ recent stimulus announcements – including a pledge to spend as “necessary” to meet the country’s economic growth target of about 5 percent – have indicated that the country’s leaders feel a sense of urgency regarding its current economic performance, which has lead analysts to lower their predictions for the year’s gross domestic product.
