Statistics

Chinese banker confidence in economy rebounds in Q1

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-16 15:30

BEIJING - Chinese bankers were more confident of the economic outlook in China in the first quarter, indicated a central bank's survey released Wednesday.

The banker confidence index hit 55.3 percent in the first quarter, up 1.9 percentage points from the fourth quarter last year, according to the survey result posted on the website of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

Special Coverage: China Economy by Numbers - February Related readings:  Jan-Feb industrial output up 14.1%  Retail sales up 15.8% in first two months  China's February new loans hit 535.6b yuan

The survey found 43.9 percent of the bankers thought China's current macro economy was "relatively heated" or "overheated," down 1.6 percentage points from previous quarter, while 51.6 percent of bankers said the economy was "normal."

When asked about the economic outlook for the second quarter, 34.6 percent of bankers anticipated the economy to remain "heated," 59.1 percent of bankers said it would remain "normal" while the rest thought the economy would cool down.

However, according to results of the survey, China's banking industry confidence index dropped 3.2 percentage points from the previous quarter to 84 percent in the first quarter this year, due to the country's tightening measures to curb housing price hikes.

The survey covered governors or persons-in-charge of the headquarters of the nation's 3,000 banking institutions.

A reading above 50 percent of the indexes indicate expansion of economic activities, while an indicator below 50 percent suggests economic contraction.