A cyclist rides past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China in Beijing. File photo: IC

China's policymakers are not considering withdrawing policy support to the world's second largest economy too early, its central bank governor said Tuesday.

Speaking at a panel session of the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Agenda, Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC), said that the country's monetary policy will stay steady in order to support the economy's growth. 

Vowing to ensure policy consistency and stability, Yi said that the government's package of economic stimulus policies won't be upended "too early".

As part of efforts to revive the economy amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the central bank introduced two innovative monetary policy tools in June 2020 - a special re-lending quota for purchase of inclusive loans to small and micro-sized businesses and an instrument allowing those businesses to file for repayment deferral on their inclusive loans. 

Since the start of 2020, the central bank had made three cuts in reserve requirements, releasing 1.75 trillion yuan ($270.39 billion) liquidity, Yi disclosed in remarks at a forum in Beijing in late October. 

China's GDP expansion is estimated to recover to pre-Covid "normal [growth] range", in line with broad expectations, said the governor. 

The economy grew by 2.3 percent for the whole of 2020 on the back of an elevating 6.5 percent expansion in the fourth quarter. China's economic growth is projected to rebound to 7.9 percent this year, the World Bank said in report released in late December. 

Following a sharp decline in the first quarter of 2020, economic activity in China has normalized faster than expected, underpinned by an effective pandemic-control strategy, strong policy stimulus and buoyant exports, read the report.

Global Times