BEIJING — China’s central bank said Friday that it will raise banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, following six such hikes last year, in the government’s latest move to curb inflation.
Economists say that official Chinese data due next week are likely to show the country’s fourth-quarter economic growth slowed and inflation fell in December. But officials remain concerned about inflation risks that they say are fueled by loose monetary policies in other countries and a high level of global liquidity.
The ratio increase, which takes effect Thursday, comes after China’s consumer price index rose 5.1 percent in November from a year earlier, the fastest increase in more than two years.
China’s gross domestic product likely grew 9.2 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, slowing from the third quarter’s 9.6 percent expansion, according to the median forecast of 13 economists. China’s GDP likely grew 10.1 percent in 2010, up from 2009’s 9.2 percent rise, according to the survey.
China’s consumer price index likely rose 4.7 percent in December from a year earlier, down from November’s 5.1 percent rise, as prices of vegetables and other food items have moderated in recent weeks, according to the survey.
Senior Chinese central bankers, including People’s Bank of China Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan, have made remarks in recent weeks about plans to use a broader array of tools, including variable reserve requirements for individual lenders, to more effectively manage credit and liquidity growth as Beijing turns its attention to combating inflation from an all-out effort to boost economic growth.
