Back to the Politburo statement which found that proactive fiscal policy should improve effectiveness and efficiency, “while prudent monetary policy should be appropriate in terms of looseness and tightness.” A notable change from the October, December and February meetings, is that there was no mention of the goal of maintaining “6 stabilizations” (on employment, trade, financial markets, investment, foreign capital, and expectations). This suggests that Beijing is now less worried about weakness in these areas, and the likelihood of aggressive easing has sharply declined.
Here is a recap of the three key highlights announced in the meeting, courtesy of Morgan Stanley:
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David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
